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Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Bundling up because it's Antarctica outside (winter in Florida)

I knew that I would not be able to ride for a week or two at the beginning of the year.  We had routes to run and meetings to attend.

December and January have been thin months for me paywise due to the holidays and me missing some work.  So when the beginning of the week rolled around I was looking forward to jumping on Kimmie and doing my commute.  Only the temperature fell by 23 degrees overnight.  When I left for work it was only 47 F (8 C) and when I left work it was only 42 F (5.5 C).

I know I should not bitch.  After all my hometown was looking at a high of 12 F (-11 C).  I should be used to "fall like" conditions right?  After being in the south for six odd years my blood thinned out.  Days like this are a shock to my system.

So here I am, prepping like it's sub zero outside...freeze out jacket, freeze out gloves and I'm considering putting on my new neon yellow windproof and waterproof Bilt gloves.  I'm also thinking to myself how ridiculous I'm being.

"It's cool outside," I tell myself, " it's not Antarctica freezing."  Yet my soon to be 50 year old bones want me to bundle up.  I think about my fellow Rounders and how they must be having a good laugh about this.  However if I'm going to ride more this year, I'm just going to have to buck up and do it.

So I make it to work and back, the only part of me that got cold was my neck which a balaclava would fix and I have to curse myself for riding in anyway because I can feel a tickle in the back of my throat and it is that time of year.  We do have a Free Country jacket at the house that would protect the neck if I pulled the zipper all the way up, I've not worn it on the bike because it does not have any protective armor in it.  

I've ridden in colder weather than this and I remember pulling over sometimes at two in the morning to pull on a pair of sweat pants to protect my legs.  I didn't have to do that on Monday but it was still a brisk ride in and out of work.

The good news is that for the rest of the week it's supposedly going to warm up and make riding all that more comfortable.  Expect for Thursday where we are expecting (depending on which TV station you trust) a 70 to 100% chance of rain.


So hate mail can be sent to me at:

4 comments:

Trobairitz said...

We get acclimated to our weather.

When we lived in BC, we'd walk miles through the cold and snow for fun.

After living in Oregon for 15 years we'd freeze at the temps we used to be out in.

It's all relative.

SonjaM said...

No hate mail from me, Robert. However, I am a bit envious about your weather. I'd be happy about your temps right now. We have had rainstorms and sleet and winter has finally made it to our neck of the woods.

Conchscooter said...

42 is colder than comfortable. It quite astonishes me how much warmer the Keys are than the mainland this time of year. I like the riding up there but winters are tough.

Ken said...

Sorry Robert over on this side of Tampa Bay those are colllllddddd temperatures. 67 should be the mininmum for a low. When you get ScooterBob will you come to this side and introduce him, and you.