Ride # 9: Above Freezing

February 1, 2014

Saturday. The first day of February. It's a good day. Above freezing from start to finish.

Drive to Alewife Whole Foods, then the Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont. Score more Rasputin Imperial Stout. Then to Wheel Works.

After years of cobbling together winter riding garb (see Layers), I resolve to buy suitable contemporary cold weather apparel. I do. Gore-Tex booties. A body hugging under layer, sheeny and effective; a long-sleeved fleece/nylon full zip-up jersey; a high visibility neon yellow/green windbreaker vest; a slim but hefty and well-pocketed riding jacket of weight and warmth and versatility, it's high visibility lime /yellow green too.

I also bought a NEW TIRE, a Michelin.

At home in the basement, the Crux looked like it needed some attention so I attended to it. I changed out the old tire for the new; I cleaned the chain and chain rings; I wiped down the frame; I breathed like a dragon on the handle bars.

By the time I got underway the sky had begun to gauze over, the sun had begun to relinquish its command of the landscape.

It mattered not in the long run. The temperature was 49 degrees (9 C) when I set out. And was the same when I returned. A break from the Polar blast. A gauzy afternoon.

Gleason Rd, Princeton, MA

It's all gauze, it seems. A moping sun behind a veil of rue. Every afternoon in January and February oozes grays and ash blues, dirty ice whites, cruddy slush, sand bars.

It's Not Obvious, Which Way to Go

That's New England. I read just now that storms approach this week. So be it. This is February. This month will cudgel us once or twice, and then it'll be March. And all March's frustrations. But after March the rest is inevitable.

Today, robins in abundance. A crow. Sparrows at a farm house feeder.

Ride Stats: 22.09 miles (35k), 13.6, 1H 41M or so. Almost tipped 50 degrees with the early sun; I rode later, 2:00 PM; the over-cloud flooded in and the temperature dropped, though only to the low 40's. Pretty mild over all.