Tough commute this morning, but not for the usual reasons related to weather. The weather was clear and cold with temps in the upper 20s, well within my comfort range. However, my dynamo headlight started malfunctioning about 2 miles into my commute. It was mostly daylight by that time but I was concerned about riding home in the dark this afternoon, so I stopped to see what was the matter. I checked the whole light system and the problem seemed to be loose wires at the connector on the front hub, and got my lights working again soon -- so it seemed. I ended up stopping about 3-4 times trying to get the lights to stay on, and finally succeeded at about the 6 mile point on my commute. I washed my bike thoroughly yesterday for the first time in weeks, and I suspect that some water got in the hub connector, and hopefully it has all dried out.

After I finally got that settled, I got stuck at the longest light on my commute through two light cycles because the driver at the front of the line wasn't paying attention when the light changed and didn't move for about 30 seconds. Then I made a foolish decision to turn right at the light and attempt to cross the highway at a crossover point in the median, but traffic was so heavy that I had to sit there in the median for a very long time.

When I got to work, I remembered that the hot-water heater was broken in our building, so I had to ride to another building with a working shower, which added about 10 more minutes to my commute time. Bottom line, my morning commute took about 20-30 minutes longer than usual. Hopefully my afternoon ride will go smoother.