But today . . . ewww, maybe the enjoyment thing was not so much.
The weather channels kept saying upper 30s and sunny with light winds so I was pretty optimistic. At noon it still wasn't warm enough so I delayed until much later in the afternoon than I usually like to get started.
Here's the deal with this late in November, if you delay until late enough in the day for it to be warm enough to ride comfortably you are going to run into a problem with daylight. That's the theoretical statement, the practical is if you don't start until 2pm you are going to find yourself out there at 4pm with the sun rapidly disappearing.
I am at core a summer time rider, therefore my bicycle has no reflectors and no lights. Reflectors are required by Minnesota Statute but if I am never going to ride in low light conditions reflectors are only extra weight. Today I endured the inevitable consequence of my reflectorless self when I had to cut the ride short from the standard distance because it seemed no longer prudent to be out there without reflectors, the light was going away.
It was always too cold. I have the gear, I was not uncomfortable or endangered or anything like that. But it was too cold for pleasant recreational riding.
I have made several comments about the really interesting light that we only get in the fall. Today I have discovered that we are moving out of the rich interesting light of fall into the thin, anemic light of winter. I took a picture of the sky.
You might think that was at the end of the ride but actually that's very early, probably about 2:25, just a couple of minutes before I paused at the Cattle Barn.
Every bicycle ride accomplishes something. Today I got a few more miles and I expected that I was going to have a latest ride of the year in the last several years accomplishment to report. Instead once I actually checked the log I discovered that as recently as two years ago (in 2009) I had a ride on November 30. No rides in December since 2004 though. I do suspect that I have reclaimed the mantle of latest ride of the year by a bicyclist living in my neighborhood, however. I suppose that's something even if today was clearly too cold for recreational bicycling.
2 comments:
Yay, latest rider in the neighborhood! I love the first photo--amazing clouds and lighting. It does look like a really late afternoon shot.
First, I must say "hard core." 33 at the cattle barn is cold. And, yes -- dressing for it is possible, and it still surprises me that I can stay warm on a bike at that temperature. But your leg muscles know it's cold, and the mechanical parts of your bike know it's cold, and the lube on your chain knows its cold -- it's just harder to ride when it's that cold. So good on 'ya.
The light has changed -- anemic is a good word for it. Hardly powerful enough to create a good shadow.
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