Windchill chart:
20 mph (faster than my speed of 18) at 35F (colder than ambient 36 F) has a wind chill of 24 F. 12 F is less than 24, so the feeling of cold must’ve been the rain.
Damp goes all the way through to the bone. (Water is an excellent conductor of heat AND a heat sink. Since the human body is 67% water...which means Hmuman tissue is also very good for conducting heat. Long story; the Nazis in WW2 did medical “experiments” on people who they exposed to very cold temperatures. They’d let the guy freeze, then have him snuggle up to a naked female prisoner. They reported the subject would thaw out, and then almost immediately attempt sex.)
Also, in a less macabre connection, the Gold Medal Olympian swimmer, Phelps, reportedly burned about 5000 calories a day, even though the work expended in his workouts didn’t come close to that. They finally figured out it was the water in the swimming pools — while not cold enough to endanger his health or life, it was still below 98.6, so his body burned up a sh!t-ton of calories to replace heat lost to the water.
Of course but riding 20 mph into a mph wind gives the effects of 30 mph chill factor does it not? Combine that with the humidity and it makes it worse.
I ride all the time but...draw my line at 40*. Then go inside on the trainer!
I’m a wuss.
