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4004.3 to be as precise as my bike computer gets...

I was downright chilly this morning. I checked the hourly-updated
conditions when I woke up at 5, but in the haze of sleep I didn't
realize that the 5:00 stats hadn't actually hit the local National
Weather Service page. I was looking at numbers from an hour ago. 43
degrees didn't seem terribly harsh. I dressed pretty much like I
mentioned in my last post for "below 50" - the problem is that by the
time I left at 5:40 or so, we'd lost 5 degrees, putting the ambient
temperature squarely below 40. I didn't find this out until I got to
work and looked at the numbers. I knew when I left home that I was
operating at the lower-end of the effective temperature range for a
long-sleeve-under-short-sleeve top. I couldn't believe how positively
chilly my arms got, though.

Yes, I had a windbreaker with me, but I figured I'd get warm if I
cranked up the effort a bit. Keep in mind the entire trip, I'm
operating under the belief that it's above 40 and that I've worn this
stuff at this temperature before without a problem.

Karen's been back on the road the last few days, so I'm not cruising
solo anymore (or at least not as often). Yesterday morning, we saw a
car get pulled over after passing us. I'm not sure why. It didn't buzz
us and it wasn't speeding at the time it passed us. Having someone to
be miserable with on a chilly morning like today does something for
morale. Not much else going on today. I haven't told anyone until now,
but I'm planning to ride the rest of the month out in "rain or shine"
mode in an attempt to avoid using the bus altogether. I'll likely cave
and take the bus before November 1st, but I'll try not to. Why?
Mostly for the sake of trying to hit my goal of 5,000 miles for the
year. It's looking pretty bleak unless I harden up a bit.

I've got about 1,000 miles to go, and 84 days of what most cyclists
consider "the off season" left to rack them up. That's 12 miles per
day. Figure that 24 of those days are weekends where I don't ride much
anyways and a few holidays are strewn about as well... Assuming I
don't run any errands or do any recreational riding for the rest of
the year (not likely), I've got to average more than 17 miles per work
day to make this work. Doing some quick algebra in my head, with my
full commute being 29 miles and my average round trip involving the
bus being 5 miles, I need to go bike-only for half of the remaining
commute days left this year. 30*29=870. 30*5=150. 870+150=1020.

I didn't post a September recap, but my September was weaksauce
anyways. This is pretty much where I stand right now, though.

Random Tunage:
Taffy - I Love My Radio
Rockell - In A Dream

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