It's been cold and windy here in NYC, and I've been riding a bit every week. On Monday, I rode to the bike coop to work on my fork swap project. It's about 5 miles from home to the coop. I helped too many people and didn't manage to finish threading the new fork, but I had a wonderful time connecting with people and teaching them. I wore my new gigantic mittens, and yes, they kept my hands warm. But they reduce dexterity. Shifting and braking are slower, so it's a bit of a handicap.

Yesterday, I rode with regular gloves since it was a little warmer. I rode from home to class (5 miles), from class to evening rehearsal (2 miles), and from rehearsal to home (5 miles). On the way to class, along the edge of the Hudson River, the headwind was so strong that it nearly stopped me dead. I quickly decided to take to the streets where I would protected a bit from the wind. That worked out, but traffic was heavy enough that it slowed me down, and the wind wasn't brutal, but it did affect me. On the way home from rehearsal, I had a strong tailwind. Look at my GPS tracks is amusing as I can see my speeds were low in the morning and very high at night, thanks to the wind.

I'm really looking forward to not needing to wear so many clothes. But I'm also grateful that I'm riding a fair bit despite it all.