long cold ride

connect.garmin.com/activity/139066208

it takes forever to get dressed for an early morning ride in the winter. it took me thirty minutes to pull on a base layer, jersey, jacket, skull cap, shorts, tights, socks, shoes, shoe covers, gloves, garmin and helmet before i could click in. of course, snooping around dailymile didn't help me dress quickly, so not every minute can be blamed on the garments.

i took off down school street trying to avoid as many stop signs as i could on my way out of town forgetting that the price you pay for continuous rolling on school street is a buzzed butt. brick streets are a bear!

i turned south on to main street and sped down yet another section of cobbled thoroughfare before turning west on 54's smooth blacktop.

the going was pretty slow on the way out of town. it's uphill most of the way and the wind, while not terribly strong, was nevertheless in my face. i rolled passed old 54, opting to stay out where i could get a ride back into town if i was to flat. i'm NOT going to change a flat in the dark when it's 32 degrees. thankfully, that wasn't an issue.

when i turned around at byers road, i was averaging around 14mph. that's slower than my commuting miles on my mountain bike yesterday! that simply would not do! i accelerated and kept the hammer down all the way back home. every mile i got a peek at my speed when my garmin lit up. with one exception, i was over 20mph every time.

i flew past the school where i do lunch room duty, past rick's restaurant and RV park, past the kwik shop and rolled up to the light at main just as it turned green. i had a go all the way back home then and spun around the corner and into my drive at exactly 6:30. perfect timing! that's when my wife wanted me to wake her up.

that's done. time to take all this gear off and get ready for the day.