(In)Glorious Commuting

With the coming of darkness (Standard Time), and the schedule changes that go with it (instructing an evening Spin Class), I find that my cycle commuting is a bit more challenging.  This is something I have to re-work every year.  Those Tuesday and Thursday evening classes end at about 7:00 P.M.  That means, by the time I change and ride home (in the dark) it’s close to 8:30.  That’s a bit late.  Confession time.  On Spin Class days, I often don’t commute by bike.

So I have a pretty strong incentive to ride on days that I can do so fairly easily.  But there are other challenges.

This past Friday would have been a good day (from a schedule standpoint) to ride to work.  But it was going to be cold.

I tried, brethren.  I tried.  But Friday morning dawned evil chilly, and my heart just wasn’t in it.  So I drove to work instead.

It takes time, and the gathering of mental fortitude to face elements.  I need some time to marshal internal resources, before I face cold weather.  I greatly prefer years when the cold comes to us gradually.  Not the case this year.

So on Saturday, when it was even colder…  Yes I did!  I prepared Friday evening, had my cold weather gear all laid out.

Of course the Saturday morning preparations went a bit more slowly than they should have done.  I’m out of practice.  But I did get geared up and out I went.

{Please note the irony here.  I skipped Friday, with a low of 35, to ride in on Saturday, when it was significantly colder.}

I have a thermometer on my commuter bike.  It is not a rapid responding type device.  It takes a while for heat or cold to “soak” the computer and bring the reading on to an accurate indication of ambient temperature.

I’d stored the bike inside.  So it was indicating 65 degrees as I rolled it out.  By the time I hit the end of the (not long) driveway, the reading was 59.  As I rolled out of my neighborhood, just 0.4 miles later, it was showing 51.  It kept going down.  The readings bottomed out, as I crossed Gingercake Creek, just three miles from home, at 27 degrees.  Ouch!

From the low at Gingercake, the temp began to climb, slowly.  By the time I reached the shop, just at 9:15, I was seeing 41 degrees, and climbing.

Okay.  I’ve done it.  I’ve broken the ice, so to speak.  It’s time for Winter commuting, and I’m ready for it.

Who else has a commuting challenge story?