Much Too Close to Antarctica for Comfort

We all know that Invercargill can get pretty cold in winter. So cold in fact that one must wear at least two pairs of everything (with the exception of shorts) if they want any show of making it twenty minutes into a road ride and still have feeling in their extremities. I thought I was relatively prepared for it until I hit the Southland roads this afternoon, and had to slide my way across patches of ice on the road. Slick tyres made this that little bit more thrilling. As well as Racquel's very alarming, high-pitched shrieks. Big ups to Mumma Georgie for brewing us all a nice cup of chocolatey goodness to defrost our fingers post-ride. Isn't she good.

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to hitting up the indoor track tomorrow, and we're all crossing our fingers that Cycling Southland will be kind enough to crank the heaters up full blast. (Bribery isn't yet out of the question...) Puffer jackets are the next best option but, as you can probably imagine, they create a bit of drag.

And it's always a good feeling being able to count down the days till we reach the searing hot temperatures of the U.S. of A on two hands. Seven fingers, in fact. It is strange, but satisfying, packing shorts, t-shirts and sunblock into a suitcase when you're wrapped up in a blanket in the middle of the day and have to ice-skate across to front lawn with a bucket of water to throw over the car.

But until then we'll be layering jackets upon jackets upon thermals, gritting our teeth and making some big gains with our training. And willpower.

Expect another post over the next few days... that is if my fingers haven't fallen victim to frostbite, in which case typing will become quite an issue.

Cassie

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