Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2082:
On Monday the forecast said we would get about 8" of snow this morning. On Tuesday they amended it and said it would be 1"-3". Today on Wednesday I woke up to no snow on the ground, and the precipitation chances saying 0%.
What we lacked in snow was replaced with high wind. The wind howled all night. This morning as I prepared the house would shake with some of the wind gusts. The wind speed is a constant 25 mph with gusts sometimes topping 50 mph.
Yesterday afternoon my sciatica acted up, and this morning it's still being ornery. I'm not sure why. Thankfully it hasn't been enough to immobilize me, just enough to be a constant annoying pain. Due to my heart medication, I'm not allowed much in the way of pain killers. It's rare that I ever need them, so most of the time it's not a big deal. On days like today, though, it would be nice to have a little more than Tylenol (to which I'm a non-responder) to take the edge off things.
I had packed my panniers for the fat bike. With the lack of snow I repacked everything into my backpack so I could take the road bike. My carbon road bike is still down after I grenaded the rear wheel last week. DT Swiss is going to warranty it, but until I get the repaired wheel back that bike is out of commission. In the mean time I've been riding my vintage Panasonic road bike. I've ridden that bike more in the last week than I had the previous 10 years combined.
The temp was 32°F this morning, but I had to ride straight into that wind. I decided to wear my balaclava even though the temp was above my normal threshold for that layer. I'm glad I did, as without it the gale would have been a lot colder on my neck. As soon as I hit the road and felt the wind I immediately conceded any idea of riding quickly. I just geared down and rode at a pace where I could easily spin without making myself miserable trying to go fast.
My Panasonic used to be my main nice weather bike. After I got my Kestrel in 2015 it pretty much sat and gathered dust and cobwebs. Until last week, I think I've ridden it about 3-4 times in the last decade. I keep thinking I need to let it go and donate it to our local bicycle mission so that someone else could put it to better use. However, this week I've been glad I still had it around.
The only problem is the size. It's a 61cm frame which is pretty big. I used to think this bike was very comfortable. This week as I've been riding I've realized how bad the fit is compared to my Kestrel with a 58cm frame. It probably doesn't help that in the last decade I've also lost a full inch in height; I used to be 6' 1" tall, and now I'm only 6'.