Earning the Frosty Badge!

Brrrr, that was a chilly frosty one. Minus 4ºC on the Borth & Ynyslas Weather Station when I headed out for a surf ski paddle this morning. The grass was crusty with frost, the sun was just putting in an appearance and wisps of mist were rising from the sea. Tiny waves lapped against the sand and my breath could be seen in the crisp air as I got ready on the beach. There was barely any wind which was a blessing.

I still didn’t consider it still cold enough for anything more than a 3/2mm summer wetsuit and a thin wind jacket. I did have 5mm wetsuit boots on and a fleecy hat. My hands were bare and felt the cold as I carried my ski to the beach. I thought that maybe it was time to add some pogies to my Christmas list. Once on the water and working a little harder my hands soon warmed up and felt OK. It was feet that suffered, so I might see if I still have some Sealskin waterproof socks that I could wear under my wetsuit boots. Hopefully the fleecy liner will keep my toes a little toastier. I have a feeling I threw them out earlier in the year though.

Wallog and Back

I paddled into Borth against the tide and through the sea mist. From Borth I continued on, past the Camels Hump, past Aberwennol and past Harp Rock. The cliffs plunged me into shade along here as I continued on to Wallog where I turned around and retraced my paddle strokes. I had the tide helping me on the way back so it was a little quicker as I kept up a steady pace to finish my 9 mile paddle in 90 minutes. Not a bad start to the day.

There was frost on the grass still as I packed up, but the temperatures had at least got above freezing by now.

Frosty Ski

Frosty Ski

I was however unable to wash my ski off once home as the hosepipe was still frozen solid.

At least I was rewarded with the ‘frosty Badge’ on Garmin Connect!

Frosty Badge

Frosty Badge

I didn’t think I’d ever get this as you have to do an activity when the temperature is below freezing. Not a problem for me as I do plenty in sub-zero temperatures. The problem is the fact that my Garmin device is a Fenix 3 watch which I wear on my arm. The temperature sensor is therefore pretty much useless as it isn’t really measuring ambient temperature but is affected considerably by body heat. Usually, even when the temperature is sub-zero it is still reading somewhere around 10-20ºC. Not so today obviously as Garmin awarded me with the Frosty Badge.

A good start to the day, and now for some work. Homemade coconut flapjacks and a nice coffee first I think.

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Alan Cole

Alan is a Freelance Website Designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband with far too many hobbies: Triathlete, Swimming, Cycling, Running, MTBing, Surfing, Windsurfing, SUPing, Gardening, Photography.... The list goes on.

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