Today was the inaugural commute of 2007 for me. I quit commuting in October of 2006 as I didn't have any 'cold weather' kit. Turned out I probably didn't need it until February. I've been wanting to start riding again for the last couple of weeks, but I kept saying, "Well, once the weather cooperates, I'll get back on the road." But, last night I realized I could be saying that until June, and so, with rain and high wind forecasted for today, I went through the pre-commute/night before ritual.

I had forgotten how much time it takes to iron my work clothes the night before, get everything laid out and ready to go, and the commute bag semi-packed. I also discovered that all of my nifty additions (elbow and knee warmers, helmet liner, rain jacket and pants, polyfleece gloves, etc.) push me to the limits of my Epic trunk bag. I'm going to have to get a bar bag to keep the non-optional items like spare tubes, CO2 inflater, patch kit, tool kit, etc. in so I actually have room to carry my necessities...like work clothes.

But, to the ride...7a start with 60.2 degrees and 70%+ humidity, a stiff wind out of the west as I headed, you guessed it, west. A couple of blocks into my commute, I discovered the battery in my bike computer has died, so I have no idea how fast I'm going (or not) or what time it was. So, in true Dick Seacup fashion, I decided, "Well, I'll just take it easy and enjoy the ride. I'll get there when I get there and too bad if anyone complains...after all, it's only work!" Imagine my surprise when I made it there fifteen minutes later, which is about on par with my 'fast' times last fall (but not my PB...heh). So, either I'm in incredibly good shape for not having done *any* exercising for four and a half months, or...I'm going to pay for this tomorrow morning. Heh. I should note here that my cow-orker, Mr. "People Who Wear Helmets and Ride in the Road Deserve to Die" was displeased to see my bike in the data center once again. Bonus!

The ride home was unremarkable except to note that, as usual, the wind had shifted to east-southeast and was still blowing pretty steadily. Traffic was light and I only had one JAM crowd me, which is also per usual. Although the ride back is uphill, I made it home in just a little over 15 minutes as well. I'm really going to be hurting tomorrow.

All in all, the commute today was...most excellent! It's good to be back in the saddle and I'm glad I didn't let inertia keep me off the bike. Oh, and no problem remembering how to use clipless pedals...heh, my wife was worried about that.