With the title sponsor of the team, Champion System, being a custom cycling clothing manufacturing company, they were keen to ensure that we were well equipped for the season ahead. Each rider received a bag full of clothing for every situation imaginable; rain, hail or shine. Or snow even.
As I opened up each piece of clothing, there were a few that I was sure I would never need to use... Thermal winter gloves, long fleece leg warmers, thermal jacket, beanie etc etc. I thought they would be more useful to someone attempting a trip to the North Pole rather than riding in the weather conditions that I was used to. Turns out I was extremely wrong.
My first ride in Munich was an early one. Due to a few jobs that had to be done during the day, we left at 6.30am, which is not uncommon back home in Australia. I put on leg warmers, an undershirt, fleece long sleeved jersey, long fingered gloves and a beanie. I thought this was more than enough!
After only 30 minutes of riding, my feet had turned to blocks of ice, I could not feel the gear levers on my bike and I was pretty sure my nose and lips had fallen off. My friend said to look out for ice on the road and I scoffed at him, 'It's not that cold!'. A few kilometres up the road, I stopped to take a photo, using it as an excuse to try to get some feeling back in my hands and feet.
I continued on, but was keen to get back home to some warmth. After arriving home, I checked my Garmin file... We were riding a zero degrees celcius for a lot of the ride!!! Lets just say that I no longer do early morning rides and I put on as many layers as I can now!!
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