I was going to pack a light bag and ride my lightest bike, the 2006 carbon/aluminum Felt, but there was a chance for rain. So I decided to take my full commute bag and my heaviest bike, the 42-pound 1997 drop-bar 26" Rockhopper.

Riding in to work is slightly downhill so the extra weight is not an issue. It was a cool 41F when I left with an expected high of only 50F. I wore a long-sleeve poly-shirt between my base T and the outer shell, long pants and long-fingered gloves. No balaclava yet...that usually comes into play in the lower 30s.

The big (for me) 26x 2.125 Fincci smoothies make the bike practically glide, especially now that they're broken in a bit. Being as the bike is my snow bike and gets studded tires in the winter, and riding is shared among 5 other bikes, these tires took almost two years to really wear in (transfered over from the previous 26" bike, of blessed memory). It was still only 42F when I arrived at work, barely breaking a sweat. I had upped the gearing when I bought the bike last year

I was expecting a slight uphill slog on the way home, so before leaving work I made a few V-brake adjustments to make sure they weren't rubbing the rear wheel in the least. It had dropped back down to 47F by the time I left, and it was blustery with the wind coming from seemingly all directions. But the bike required less effort than anticipated.

The 5.8 mile ride home took 37 minutes vs the usual 34 for this route going home...the bike computer showing only 2 minutes not rolling with an average speed of 9.9. That's pretty slow for a dry-weather commute, but perhaps it was because I was enjoying a podcast in one ear, something I don't do much anymore. Since starting the new job three years ago I have not been listening so I end up concentrating more on the riding which seems to yield an extra mph average in speed.