Hitman

Talloires: Water 7°C

Went for a short swim afterwards with no wetsuit for keeping the Cold Adaptation / Ketogenesis levels up. New wetsuit from Wiggle is great (half price at the moment) - just no chill at all even at this temperature. Takes a bit of getting used to squeezing into a triathlon suit and I'd have sworn blind that it was far too small - but it's perfect. The huge level of flotation takes some getting used to as well. 

Despite the low temperatures the sun was out - and was warm against the skin. That's a really nice feeling. However the cycling route around the lake was already in the shadows and so required the full kit. The flashing 2000 lumen light is great - you can see all the reflective road signs for about half a kilometer in front of you all flashing back at you like a demented rave scene. I did worry about drivers potentially having epileptic fits - but that would probably only improve their driving anyway.

Wonderfully - the bASECAMP (www.base-camp.bike) café was open in Talloires and not only does it make the best coffee but it really does make an excellent base for exploiting this phenomenal area. The 40k (mainly cycle path) around the lake is ideal for winter cycling - being flat and exposed to the sun (for drying the path). Hill climbs (like up the nearby Col de la Forclaz) are fine but the descents are usually too chilly. The way to circumvent that problem is to wear only summer gear - which prevents you from being soaked with sweat in those temperatures and this stops you even losing your core temperature on the descent. However - it's a bit too much to then combine this form of Cold Adaptation with the swimming side of things in freezing water: It's either one or the other in that respect. Today we tried swimming BEFORE cycling and it seems to be better that way around. It's tough holding the swimming together after a workout on the bike - but no problem cycling after the swim - even when cold.

Of course - all of this is specifically to develop the Hitman look - 3rd photo below...

Cultivating the "Hitman" look...