DO CYCLISTS REALLY NEED TO COLD PLUNGE?

DO CYCLISTS REALLY NEED TO COLD PLUNGE?

COLD PLUNGE IS ALL THE RAGE, and I've yet to do it.  But, I'm wondering if today's ride counts as a cold plunge, which was prognosticated to be in the high 40's, yet on some devices...

... registered in the low 30's.

I'm still cold.

Because I dressed like a rookie...

  • Decided my summer gloves would be sufficient
  • Left my awesome KOM jacket at home
  • Couldn't find my toe warmers

... I froze like a rookie.

Which gets us back to the original question:

Does not feeling anything in my hands for at least 20 minutes, wondering if I still had toes, and being cold 12 hours later count as a cold plunge?

Another bonus was we recorded very slow times on the main segments even though we were giving it everything to get home as quickly as possible...

... low hr,
low power,
complete exhaustion.

Now I know this is the point where all the armchair zwifties chime in on how dumb it is to ride in the cold, and the snowbound chide me for wearing arm and knee warmers, a base layer and skull cap in such balmy weather, so before you go there...

... can some heat me up so cocoa?

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165.1 lbs
7.5 hrs
No strength
10 minutes recovery
45 minutes reading + Journaling