I was wondering where all the bikes were this morning, and then I remembered that the forecast was calling for low temps in the low 30s(f) today. Apparently the prognosticators were feeling bullish, though, as google tells me the temp is only 28f now.

I was plenty warm in my tights with wool socks, a technical T, under base layer and fleece, under my showers pass club pro jacket (which does NOT breathe!) and a beanie under my helmet. I wondered why my face felt a bit chilly starting out and descending my once decent hill, and now I know. Still, too warm to break out the balaclava. I probably could have left off one of the upper body layers as I am pretty damp with sweat. Or I could switch to my Performance jacket which breathes quite a bit better.

New chain and new cassette installed last week, and oh what a difference! I put a 11-30 instead of the OEM 11-34 Megarange, and shifting is so much nicer at the top of the range. The old jump from 26 to 34 was always a pain. I will find out if I regret the change at all tonight when I climb my one 'big' hill -- but I always have the triple if I need it (I can't remember the last time I dropped into it on purpose).

Rode a very short ride yesterday, starting from a different part of the city (my sons had a school visit in DC, not far from my office, so I drove them in and rode from there to the office). I will note that it took about the same amount of time to drive past my office to the other location as it did to bike back, and visa versa in the afternoon. The driving trip to and from where I parked the car took about an hour and 20 minutes each way, which is almost as long as it takes to bike the distance from my home to my office -- and that was using the HOV lanes. I don't know why people drive into DC!