Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2270:

This morning I woke up with subpar motivation. I was scheduled to ride a 22 mile route today. I really didn't feel like being out in the cold that long. I strongly considered modifying my work schedule and just riding to a client's office and back home for a total of about 9 miles. Then Facebook reminded me that on this day five years ago I rode my fat bike through a blizzard, taking an hour and 20 minutes to go 7.7 miles. And on this day two years ago I rode to work when it was -14°F.

I thought to myself, "Have I gotten that soft?" I decided the answer needed to be "no!" so I sucked it up and rode to our office, the first leg of the long route.

The weather felt especially frosty. The air temp was 16°F, but the humidity was very high and a steady 12 mph wind made it feel much worse than the thermometer claimed. I took the road bike, and the ventilated clipless shoes made my feet numb from the cold even wearing toe covers. My hands, thighs and face were frozen. My upper torso was chilly, but warmer than the other parts.

About three minutes after I got to the office, my coworker Kevin arrived. He also rode his bicycle, and looked just as cold as I felt. He concurred that the thermometer was deceptive this morning.