fog advisory in effect

most worst case scenarios begin with getting out of bed. some end with a stubbed toe or a cracked shin a few moments later. others are a bit more involved than that.

i got out of bed this morning at 5:30. i did not bang any body part against any immovable object. in fact, this morning played all nicey nicey for the half hour i spent getting ready for my ride. the first hint that something was in the works came when i clicked on the blinking weather icon. "fog advisory," it said. "areas of dense fog possible until 12:00pm." i read that with little interest, then clicked over to the main page. it was 38 degrees with an 8-10mph wind out of the southeast. "warmth, at last!" i cried. i put on a layer or two less than usual and headed out to the garage.

i pulled out onto the rain-slicked pavement around 6:00. it was a little foggy, but not too bad. the spotty lenses on my glasses diminished my sight range much more than the low-riding clouds. i rode up to the highway and headed west. i was going to ride west five miles and then back ten miles to the east and then passing through town do it all again. if i did this twice, i'd end up with forty miles.

no problems presented themselves during the first ten miles. it was a simple out and back. i passed by pine street a little wetter and a bit more wind-battered than when i started, but none the worse for wear really.

it was in the next ten miles that things got a bit more interesting. as i rode east, traffic picked up a bit. about three miles out of town, the "worst case" stuff started. i could hear a vehicle approaching from behind. i could tell by the headlight glare that it wasn't moving over much. when it passed me, i learned why. the yellow pickup that endangered my well-being was being passed by another vehicle in a no passing zone. i thanked God that i hadn't been hit by a gust at the wrong moment or SPLAT! grrr! drive carefully people!

i hit five miles out and decided that i needed better gloves. i'd opted for my cooler polypro liners today thinking it was warmer, so why not? the wet and wind was why not. my gloves were soaked through and my fingers felt worse than if it had been in the 20s. so i turned around and rode toward home.

around two miles from home, a speeding tanker truck passed me while another vehicle was coming from the opposite direction. scared me spitless. he was so close and so fast. grrrr! probably from kalamazoo. that would be the worst case scenario afterall. i think this one was from missoula, so not so bad.

i made it to the garage where my thermal gloves were and popped into the house for a bit of energy. i downed a package of shot bloks while catching up on dailymile. i discovered that kathy s had already posted my blog article on the community blog, so i glanced at it and at the 17 notifications that had piled up since i posted my response to the dailymission question. by the time i was done, i was warm and really didn't want to go out again. "20.10 miles would be enough," i thought. "who needs another 20?" i shook my head vigorously to get that thought out of my head and ran to the garage. i didn't reach my goal for the year listening to such nonsense.

my last twenty miles were a bit of a bore after the exciting adventures i'd experienced earlier. my fingers enjoyed their warmer environment and the rest of my body went along for the ride. i was cold and wet, but it could have been worse. maybe. (40.31 miles @ 14.6mph)