Serve Chilled

Foggy, temperature in the 30ºs.  Chill, humid, and dark but for a nearly invisible spot of blue-white light.  I’ve covered every inch of skin with some kind of odd thin black stretchy stuff.  Helmet, headphones, a facemask, and the inherent clumsiness of gloves.  Breathe carefully, don’t fog the glasses.  Climb over, stretch, clip in, wobble.  Breathe.

Release!

—

You know what happens after that:  the long glide.

I’d like to pretend it was like flying, but it wasn’t.  Not really.  True, at one point in my ride I felt perfectly comfortable: my pedaling was effortless and my body — weightless.

The number machine completely failed.  My cyclometer no longer functions.  The components on my bike are slowly wearing down to dust.  New bike next year?  Not likely.  It’s a good frame, though.  We’ll see.

Helmet?

What are your thoughts on helmets?  I agree with this list.

While I will always wear a helmet in traffic, I have to agree with Yehuda Moon:

Styrofoam Hat?

A Styrofoam hat is not the solution to the problem.

At the same time, I know the solution to the problem will not be implemented any time soon.  And so, I wear a helmet because I bike in traffic, because in the long run I’d rather be safe than brain dead.

Frosty!

I’ve had a cold all week, and I’ve scraped frost off my windshield all week, too. If I didn’t have a cold, and had been getting enough sleep and hydration…. I would still be in bed at 6am. It’s dark and cold and 40 minutes and bleh. I never have time to ride anymore. Too much commuting. Really, an hour a day? Gah.

Maybe it’s just that I’m exhausted from the cold. Or exhausted from lack of sleep. Or exhausted from lack of free time. Which leads to another thought:

I live for karate, really enjoy cello, and need to work. If I’m going to bike at all, it’s got to be the commute. I can barely find time for my cello.

The big question is: can I afford the extra time commuting by bike?  The only day I can bike in is Tuesday.

Today it snowed.  Though it was beautiful, I’m still fighting this cold.  Let’s see  how Tuesday works out.