All long rides should be catered

Another long ride with the Birmingham Bike League, another 4hrs+ in the freezing cold rain. Saturday was supposed to be cold but clear, NOT. Since the group ride was starting at 9am and only going to be 3.5hrs I decided to go early and get an extra hour in before hand. I bundled up and headed out in a light drizzle and about 40deg. After the hour I decided that I had way too much clothes on and decided to take a few layers off and switch to my lighter weight gloves, BIG MISTAKE!!! About 30 riders showed up for the ride and as we headed out the drizzle turned to rain and the temperature started to drop. By the end it was about 36deg. and still raining. My hands were so numb I couldn't shift my front derailleur and was having to use my right hand to reach across to try and shift into my big ring which usually caused me to swerve dangerously, not good in a group ride. By the end the derailleur just quit working and I had to ride the last hour in my small ring. Good for going uphill, not so good trying to stay with the pack on the downhills. Big thanks to Brian for pulling me back home after getting dropped on the downhills. Also huge thanks to the Birmingham Bicycle Company and Tracy's Restaurant for the awesome post-ride feast, it almost made up for the hours of miserable suffering. They had platters of hot yummy food all set out for us when we rolled back in. Definitely better than the scavenging that usually goes on after rides when I am starving and have no energy to make something myself. Otherwise training is rolling along. Put in my biggest week ever on the bike with some good intensity and the ankle is slowly healing up. Weather forecast is calling for lots of rain next week so might decide to skip the second Snake Creek Gap ride of the year. I just don't think I can handle another long ride with wet cold feet covered in mud. PS - Lauren, the Mantra is all yours!! Hope the injuries are healing up quickly and the trainer riding isn't driving you nuts!!!