Cold ride...

When I woke up it was 31 degrees out. That's 8 degrees warmer than it was yesterday. But yesterday I ran and today I was going to ride. Cycling is a much colder sport. The body doesn't warm up all over as much. The legs get toasty while the rest freezes.

I took forever layering up, then got on my bike and headed out. I took School to Stout and enjoyed the smooth pavement of Stout down to Highway 54. I took a right on 54 and headed out of town.

Just before leaving the city limits, I was approaching an intersection when a car pulled out right in front of me. I had my hands on the hoods, so all I could do was yell. Thankfully, it was a paper delivery person and they had their windows down. They slammed on the brakes as I swerved around them. I saw that it was a friend. I know they didn't do it on purpose, but hey! Pay attention! If lights are coming, stop!

From there I rode slowly out to Skyline where I turned off onto Old 54. I took the less-trafficked way out to near 7.5 miles, then turned around and headed back toward town. I rode back to 50th, took a left and rode north up to the highway where I turned east again and rode back into town on the new asphalt. I love new surfaces! So smooth and flowy!

Back in town, I met up with a bunch of traffic so I had to use the rumble-stripy shoulder until after the Kwik Shop. On a mountain bike, that's not a problem. On my road bike, it's not very pleasant. I made it through that section and sped along the highway. The light turned green for me as I hit Main Street and I shot ahead of the car that was sitting there. I held my lead for about a block, then dropped in behind them when they passed me.

At Stout, I had to stop in the turn lane. I thought I wasn't going to, so I had to unclip at the last second and nearly fell over. Thankfully, my shoe came out easily and I stopped my downward progress.

I rode up Stout, turned on School and rode swiftly into my driveway. My face was frozen, but the rest of me had stayed warm. Though the ride was a bit slower than I'd like, I was happy to be back in the saddle again. (garmin data)