Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1572:

First day since the new year where I rode all the way to our company headquarters. Three seasons out of the year I try to get there two mornings a week. During winter it usually becomes less than that because my client is only half the distance and the snow, temperatures and/or wind often sucks the motivation out of me to ride that far.

I left the house at about 6:20 AM and it was plenty dark. 12°F this morning, but only a 5 mph breeze so the temp wasn't bad. My thighs got a little chilly along with the toes on my left foot (not sure why just the left.) The rest of me was fine temperature-wise. The humidity was 80% which is unusually high when the temps are this cold. Similar to wind chill, high humidity tends to make things feel colder than they actually are. However the big thing I noticed with the humidity this morning was that my goggles fogged over in about half the time versus normal.

I rode the fat bike. The MUP is plowed, but there's quite a bit of snow pack still covering most of the pavement so I wanted the security of the fat tires. When I got to a park where I normally cut through on the road portion, a sign was hanging on a barrier saying the road was closed due to police training. So I had to take the MUP the whole mile through the park. I usually take the road because the MUP in this area tends to drift shut with snow, but luckily it was clear this morning.

The last two miles were on the streets, which are still very narrow due to the snow piles along the sides. A few drivers couldn't figure out that if I'm out in the middle of the lane because of the snow pack, that means they should use the other lane to pass me when it's clear. A couple of them decided to squeeze between me and oncoming traffic. Once again reminding us that half of everyone on the road is below average intelligence.

Took me an 1:05 to ride the 8 miles. When I arrived at our office the bike rack was completely buried in snow. It was also buried last time I was here, which was before Christmas. With the 20" of snow we've received since that time the situation with the rack has gotten worse. With no other good options available, I chained my bicycle to a handicapped parking sign right in front of the front door to the building.