First Commute of the Year

Yesterday I finally got up the gumption to get my lazy on the bike to commute to work. I hadn't since Labor Day; I'm up early enough, but the lack of light has always sucked the motivation out of me. I also have had an aversion to riding road when it's cold, but after a few Winter sorties with the 503 Cycleworx boys, I've found after the initial 10 minutes of Arctic shock, it's not too bad.

But I really want / need to get more time in on the bike, and with the the ice on the trails and still shorter days, commuting is the only way that's going to happen.

Just to make my departure a little easier and quicker, I laid my clothes out Monday night, check my bike, pumped up the tires and strapped on my handlebar light; probably a good idea anytime of year.

Get up, eat a little breakfast, get dressed, and roll out the door; 20 minutes late, but it's cold and dark out there baby.

Being 20 minutes late wasn't really a concern, I didn't have a real heavy day ahead. But it did afford me more natural light; at 6:30 AM street lights are more than adequate for my vision. I still had blinkies front an rear for motorists.

So how was the ride? Uneventful. It's a commute; that's a good thing! Leaving late there was a little more traffic, and I had to wait for a long line of cars once, but other than that easy peasy.
When it's 6:00 AM, 20 degrees F, a Dunkin Dounuts smells like heaven.



The ride home I thought I'd try a "new improved" route home. Well I missed a turn and ended up adding about 10 extra miles and 1000' of climbing, but that's a good thing, right?

I don't think I'm going to try anything heroic like commuting in the snow, but I sure am glad commuting season has begun.