Today I woke to temperatures in the low teens during my normal commute hours and less than an inch of blowing snow on the ground. I decided to work from home and see how the day would develop in terms of riding.
After lunch, the sun finally came out in force after a morning of solid overcast and rather cold temperatures. Still, no melting was evident. However, it was so cold that no new ice had formed and the winds and blown clear most of the path out of the neighborhood that I'd not cleared already with a broom/shovel.
I left for what turned out to be a brisk 40 minute ride, covering perhaps 20 miles of riding in the general vecinity of my neighborhood. Just a little stretch of the legs for Maria and a bit of a sanity enhancer for me. I really hate the days when I can't ride, even if its just the regular commute to and from work. I ride every day if I can, but when temps are freezing or below, the roads must be dry!
You can see the route I took, kind of like a bowtie, with its center being my neighborhood. Halfway through the ride I had to stop, put on the grip covers and my summer gloves since my winter gloves just weren't cutting it in the sub 20 temperatures. All was nice and toasty after that, though by the end of the ride, was starting to feel the cold in my toes. Not too bad but since I'd not worn my warm winter socks, I got what I deserved in terms of tingling.
I was tempted to ride on to the datacenter in the DTC where I sometimes work but then saw some pretty serious clouds breaking over the Front Range, decided to go home instead. Not to mention, I'd taken off my highly scratched up Fog City Fogshield last night in preparation for replacing it. All the riding I did was without a fogshield and I got to tell you, it makes a difference. I was fogging up the visor no matter if moving or standing still at a light. I had to crack the visor open so many times my face was starting to hurt from the cold.
You can be sure I put the replacement fog shield on after I got back! I just have to remember to never ever touch it, even with the softest microfiber cloths since it'll scratch!
Update: 17JAN08. Well, the Fog City Fogshield works fine, now its my glasses that fog up when riding in sub-20 degree temperatures like I did today when commuting from work to home. Not sure why but I had no fogging issues in the morning when temps were ranging from 10-14 degrees (a new low for me), but I did get fogging on my glasses with temps around 26 degrees while riding home. I've applied some "Fog Off" on my prescription glasses tonight, we'll see how they fog up or not tomorrow.
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