I saw this thread and said to myself, you went out in THAT weather? I know it gets much colder elsewhere in the country, but when you're not used to it or don't like it, days of temps in the 30s is COLD. I have even been cold inside my house all week (yes, it's heated!!). I hate cold weather and won't ride in anything that's below about the high 40s. I just don't like getting all bundled up, and even with decent gear, I still end up as a big soaking sponge when I get home. That being said, I'm referring to road biking.

When I lived in AZ, I mountain biked quite a few times when it was about freezing in the morning and then warmed up. Those speeds are slower, so the wind chill isn't as bad. I did find that warm long-fingered gloves were a requirement because the handlebars get cold and just suck the heat right out of your bare fingers even through the grips.

Regarding the difficulty in starting a fire, my guess would be that the wood and grass were still wet from the rain last weekend. It's been cold since then and the surface was probably dry, but I bet it was damp inside and not able to burn at a low temp.

Thanks for the story and making me feel better about myself for not riding this week.