Climatic extremes | Cyclingnews

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Barbara Howe (Velo Bella)(Image credit: Steve Medcroft)

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The week between races while on the road is fun; it always makes me feel like a real pro. Generally I spend five days a week at work but while traveling I get to sit around and watch TV. And during that week we ran a training ride on Tuesday (October 25th) in 40 degree weather and pouring rain (little did I know that it would be good acclimatization for the weekend). Wednesday was sunny and pleasant and Josh and I rode to a park to make use of the open space for 'cross technique practice. We were joined by several hundred high school students running cross country and the workout finished just as a few football teams arrived for practice. We never made it to the old boat in Philly. In fact, our longest walk was only about 15 minutes. Thursday's drive to Gloucester was uneventful and we arrived at our host house with enough time for a spin on the trainer.

Our host house was awesome, there is space for most of the team and entourage. Our host Mom, Nancy, makes incredible masks and has filled the house with amazing beaded, feathered, and painted masks and other artwork. Walking into the basement is like walking into a personal craft store. There are drawers full of glue guns, beads, feathers, sparkly things, and puff paint. Friday evening Melodie, Erin and myself spent quality time in the craft room decorating our helmets.

On Saturday at dawn, the sky was overcast and it was snowing. Yes, snowing. Snowing but not below freezing so as to have the maximum amount of water on the ground while being cold enough to chill you to the bone. Essex County Velo had trainers set up for us to use in a tent; thank goodness because this was not a day for warming up on the road. I was wearing most of the clothing I owned to warm up and applied liberal amounts of hot sauce to my legs. My biggest mistake was to not wear arm warmers under the long sleeve skinsuit; one thin layer of Lycra is just about as good as not wearing anything at all.

In weather like this, your feet turn into blocks of ice and sometimes it's hard to know if they're clipped in or not. The off-camber turns were unridable and I found myself doing downhill dismounts and plenty of running. Things sorted out with Wendy Simms and I riding around together. Perhaps it was all the blood draining from my brain and heading for the core of my body in the early stages of hypothermia, perhaps it was just animal instinct to get out of the cold, but somehow I maintained a five bikelength lead over Wendy for the entire last lap and I pedaled up the finishing hill in a state of near panic to cross the line in second place.

One of our army of volunteer helpers was at the finish line waiting with a coat. My skinsuit was soaked through and I tried to take off my wet gloves but couldn't. Someone grabbed the glove to help and touched the fingers inside and I screamed. The lone thought in my brain was to go somewhere warm and out of the snow. I ran over to the van only to find the doors locked. After nearly breaking into hysterical crying the keys showed up and I jumped in and turned on the heat. Melodie jumped into the van next holding her hands up and screaming. At this point I was done screaming and crying from the pain in my feet and could help Melodie remove her shoes. Erin came in next and was so cold her lips were blue. One of her shoe buckles was seized with mud and ice and wouldn't open, as she pried her foot out of the shoe her leg cramped. The three of us spent a long time sitting in the van slowly warming up.

Sunday was about as different as possible. We awoke to clear sunny skies and melting snow. Most of the course dried to a perfect tackiness but there were mud puddles and some standing water. Saturday's cold had taken the spring out of my legs and no amount of spinning and warming up could make them happy. At the start, Melodie (Metzger) came shooting past me and I was tenth or so going onto the dirt. By the time the legs got going enough to move me forward Lyne, Ann and Wendy were long gone. I found myself riding around with Melissa Thomas and we sprinted at the end with Melissa making the good move of drifting me towards the boards (she finished fourth and I was fifth). This race was one of the hardest I have ever raced; you had to pedal all-out the entire race.

Just as Barbarella bumps through the universe, comically oblivious to the dangers and threats being thrust at her, Barbara Howe has had a few misadventures of her own. After a year of sickness and a grievous injury she is finally recovered and aiming for the podium.

Barb has recently signed with Vanderkitten Clothing and looks forward to a season representing "clothing for women who kick ass!" She currently resides in Berkeley, CA with her boyfriend, a room full of bikes and her cat. Follow her adventures here on Cyclingnews.com.