Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1556:

I have a dentist appointment later this morning. Turns out that I've now lived long enough that my 30+ year old fillings have joined the opposing team, so I need to have a couple of them replaced. Yuck.

They're predicting about 4" of snow later today. Some sources say it won't start until evening, other sources say we'll first get a layer of freezing rain before the snow starts in the middle of the day. I originally was going to risk riding my hybrid, but at the last second grabbed my winter bike with studded tires. If we do get the layer of freezing rain I'll be glad I have the studs for the ride home. If not, well, I guess I wasted some effort riding this heavy bike.

Because of the dentist appointment and the need to make up the billable time, I got up and rode to work early. Got to the office about an hour sooner than usual. To my surprise, traffic didn't seem any lighter than normal.

12°F this morning with a moderate wind. I usually set 10°F as the threshold to add long underwear to my layers. For some reason I felt compelled to add the layer even though the temps were a couple degrees warmer than that. I'm glad I did. The extra layer put me about right as far as warmth.

Had a real problem with my goggles icing over. Usually that doesn't become a big issue until the temps drop below zero. This morning it was bad enough that for the final mile I pulled them down and rode without eye protection. I decided the cold stinging my eyes was better than riding square into a parked car, as I could no longer see anything through the goggles.

Got to work to discover there was no heat in the shower room. The room is along an exterior wall, so the temp in there had to be in the low 50s if not colder. They remodeled the office last spring, and relocated the shower room to the new addition. When the temps dropped this fall we learned there are issues with the HVAC system in the new part of the building, so they're constantly having to have repair people come out. I walked into the shower room and decided I wasn't motivated enough to take my clothes off in those temps. I grabbed the things I keep in my locker and went over to the "visitor's bathroom" on the other side of the building where I gave myself a bird bath in the sink. This early in the morning there weren't any visitors that I would be preventing from using the facilities.