Short Shorts and Long Tights

The wind was gone, the sky was clear, and the temperature was 48ºF when I left the house this morning. Nice. Very nice. Since I'd rather be hot than cold any day of the week, I pulled on the long tights this morning, along with the skullcap and toe-covers. I knew it would warm up quickly, but between pockets and zippers I figured I could adjust. In fact, the first thing I did when I got to the levee where the 6:30 a.m. sun was already over the horizon was stuff the skullcap into my pocket. When Jeff rolled up a moment later he said something to the effect of, "The girls are coming." This development was clearly cause for excitement among the group of regulars who were clearly starving for something - anything - new. I'd have to say that having four attractive women on the morning ride qualified.

The group finally headed out about on time sporting a diverse assemblage of clothing styles ranging from short triathlon shorts to long tights and shoe-covers. Wardrobe selection is a real challenge this time of year and there's rarely a consensus unless the thermometer promises to stay well below 50º for the whole ride. Anyway, the ride itself was quite good today, as most Wednesday rides tend to be. The pace was fairly steady at 21-23 mph with riders taking long smooth pulls at the front. It's amazing how much smoother a ride feels when there's not much wind. It looks like this cool weather will stick around one more day before things start to warm up a bit, but it is clear that we are working our way into our Southern winter now. The ten-day forecast isn't showing anything above 71º and not much in the way of rain until Saturday. If you like riding your bike, this is not the time to be sitting on the couch! We're already talking about next Sunday's northshore ride.