Now I\’m watching and waiting; and wondering when the rain might begin.

I rode to the salvage store this morning; and the sky already looked rather threatening. When I came out of the store, I saw that there had already been a little rain. It was about 9:45 am when I got home; and now I\’m debating whether to do any more errands. It isn\’t raining yet, after all!

This afternoon it\’s supposed to start getting cooler; and the wind is already up to 13 mph. I\’m watching and waiting on tomorrow\’s weather, because that\’s the biggie. Our low temperature tonight will be about 36 degrees; and from 6 pm this evening there\’s a wind advisory. I\’m debating whether to ride tomorrow; or to save the long ride for Monday.

I know that the chill factor tomorrow will be nasty; nobody needs to tell me that! According to the forecast, the temperature at 8:00 am will be 40 degrees; and with a 21 mph wind. The chill factor, then, will be about 30 degrees. Do I really want to ride in such conditions? No matter how much I want to ride, is it wise to ride when, in effect, it\’s below freezing out there?

I\’ll need to wear my heaviest gloves, with warming packs; and it\’s hard to manage on-bike eating

Met-Rx Cookie Dough

when my hands are bundled up like that. Leg warmers alone won\’t be nearly enough to keep my legs warm; so I\’ll have to wear slacks over the leg warmers and cycling shorts. Slacks mean the added chore of finding a way to keep those slacks from getting tangled up in the drive train!

More Cold Weather Woes

Thermal socks alone likely won\’t keep my feet warm enough in sub-freezing temperatures. In the conditions I expect for tomorrow, a helmet liner doesn\’t keep my head warm enough! As if the clothing problem weren\’t enough, cold weather saps my energy; and makes the miles seem long and endless.

So I\’m watching and waiting; and I can decide tomorrow morning. I have Monday off; so I can do my long ride on Monday if I can\’t ride tomorrow. If I do ride tomorrow, I\’ll have a tailwind for at least part of the time on the way back home. Usually it\’s the opposite!