Consecutive bicycle work commute number 1621:

Decided that the roads were now clear enough of ice and snow that I could ride my hybrid bike today. It was the first time since 11/25 that I've ridden a bike that doesn't have either fat tires or carbide studs. Wow, that was a long stretch. At over four months it was probably the longest I've ever gone without being able to squeeze in a day here and there on a "regular" bike.

There is still lots of snow and ice on the ground, but most of it has melted off the pavement. The only places that were really treacherous were underneath the overpasses, where the sun never shines to melt things off. In these spots there were still several inches of rutted ice. I would try to build speed ahead of these spots, then pick a line to carry me as straight as possible while I coasted across them with my feet hovering just above the ground on either side. The skinny non-studded tires didn't give me much assurance, but I made it across all of them without going down so it's all good.

Temperature this morning was 14°F with a light headwind. The humidity was pretty high at 85% making things feel very cold. Because I was on my regular bike, that also meant I was wearing my clipless shoes rather than winter boots. By the time I made it the 8 miles to the office my feet were painfully frozen. I also was fighting my goggles icing over due to the humidity. Despite all this, it was still better than driving a car.

After going such a long stretch on my winter bikes, when I got on the hybrid this morning the seat felt weird. At first I chalked it up to just not being used to the unpadded Brooks saddle, but by the time I got to work I had decided that the seat was way too low. After I put my bike in the rack I raised it 1/4". We'll see if that helps for the ride home.

*Edit: Just saw they updated the forecast for tonight. We're supposed to get an inch of snow. That means today's voyage on the hybrid will likely be a one day only event this week.