Ok. So Ricky just called. Apparently he has decided that it will be cold enough on the ride itself and that the warmth of his Tahoe might be greatly appreciated while waiting for the ride to start. In hindsight, he was right. With wind chills in the teens, standing around for 30 mins, waiting for the ride to start became a rather trying experience.

Anyway, off Sara and I rode to the starting line. We took off from our house in Cornelius at 9am for the 5-mile ride into Davidson where the Polar Bear Metric starts and ends. Man is it cold!! I honestly can’t feel my fingers at this point and I have only been on the bike for a mile. My lips and nose are already numb to the biting wind that whips by and my toes are already asking me why it is we are here on this bike and not in Spin Class at Gold’s Gym. I also think Sara has the lawyer on her cell phone because I swear I heard her say something about signing papers and this being the last straw! Did I fail to mention that doing the ride was my idea?

The Rocky River Road Club has done an excellent job at coordinating this ride. Complete with Adverse Weather statements posted on their club web site the day before, driving the course Friday afternoon and Saturday to assure the roads are ok and having an abundance of hot cider and hot chocolate on hand for those waiting around for the start. I myself had 2 cups of hot chocolate. Which I swear were double Dutch chocolate extra sugar because I had one heck of a jolt of energy once the ride started.

On the bike, riding in circles, keeping warm and who do we see? Ricky!! Sara and I had bets if he would show or not. Not that he has a habit of bailing on rides. It was just that cold folks. Let me go ahead and say, if by some chance, some dedicated rider reads this article that happens to be from or currently living in, say, Minnesota, no rolling the eyes man. This is North Carolina and we are more accustomed to battling 95 degrees and 90% humidity on the bike than Arctic blasts of Old Man Winter. So Ricky is present. Sara is present. What do you know it’s 10 am. Let’s get the ride started. And off we go. By the way - it is still snowing.

We ride. My trusty Trek 5200 and wonderfully understanding, and might I add, tolerant, wife take off through downtown Davidson. Hang a left and off towards the horse farms, small developments and quiet back roads that litter Northern Mecklenburg, Iredell and Cabarrus counties. Along the way, within the first 5 miles, is my first chance to chicken out. A yell back at Sara, “How you feeling?”, “How are the fingers and toes”. Her response, “They're Ok”, “Freezing but Ok.” Secretly I was hoping to get something back more along the line of  “this sucks” or “I am in extreme pain and going home.” Only because I was looking for any reason to take that right turn up ahead that would carry us quickly back to the warmth of our house. But, without knowing, she gave me none and kept me on the bike.

The first decent climb of the ride was ahead. A short one, but decently steep. On a normal day, I would sit back, spin up the climb and save the energy for something more challenging. But on this day, hills meant warmth. And I was looking for it wherever I could get it. Out of the saddle and into a larger gear we went. Passing people I had no business passing along the way. It seemed to be working.  My arms were getting warmer as were my legs. But nothing in the fingers and toes department. In fact, at this point we had moved beyond numb and were experiencing a level of pain I am not sure these extremities had ever been subject to previously. Oh wait, once before they had. When I was in High School and a football buddy dared me to hold my hand over a lit candle longer than he. That’s right, my hands and feet were now so cold, that they were burning. Could I really be so much of a wuss that my hands are making me want to stop and go home? It was a gut check moment folks… .

One more inquiry to the wife, fishing for an excuse to abandon, but nothing. So down the road we went. Things started to get better mentally as we chatted with others on the ride and came to realize that we weren’t the only ones suffering here. Most everyone was. So we settled in and eventually, the pain went away and the ride took on a new form.

The roads weren’t icy at all and the route offered some great challenges. There were short and steep climbs. There were long gradual climbs. There were long steep climbs. It seemed to all be packed into the 31-mile route. Oh yeah, Sara and I only did the half metric. Which is why Ricky does not have much space in this write up. I never saw him again after the start as he was on the century route.

One funny little note. About half way through the ride was the point where the two routes split from each other. The long route went straight while the shorter one turned right. It was sort of a blind right turn and as soon as we rounded the corner, right there in the middle of the road was a group of 8-10 riders all arguing about doing the century, as planned, or doing the shorter route and getting out of the cold that much sooner. Apparently they weren’t the only ones making such decisions. 3 other riders told me as we rode together that they came with those ambitions but decided on this day, 31 miles was plenty.

20 miles… long climb… 25 miles… short climb… 26 miles… long climb… 29 miles… Davidson City limits. Almost done and one last thing. Get to the finish and check the board to see if I had won any door prizes. Sara and I split up at this point. I went to see if we won anything and she started the ride back home. Reading the board I realized, yep I had indeed won. I won a slightly longer ride home! Oh well, At this point a 5 mile ride instead of 4 was no problem. The pain was gone and everything was numb with the exception of one toe, which basically made it feel like I had a pebble in my sock.

All in all, the ride was great. Sara and I were glad we did not turn back and were proud of ourselves for completing what we had started. Back at home; the gas logs were going strong. Our purple toes and fingers were beginning to take on a more normal color and our friends were informing us that we were indeed idiots. No arguments from me on that one!

Note: The Rocky River Road Club does a great job with the ride every year. Do yourself a favor and check it out at www.rockyriverroadclub.com The ride always takes place in January, which, in North Carolina, means either 70 degrees and sunny or 20 degrees and snowing is always a possibility.