According to Strava, the average temperature on this morning’s ride was 39 degrees if you believe Kevin’s download, 34 degrees if you believe mine, or a low temp of 35 with a high around 42 on my Bontrager Node 2.0 computer. Any way you slice it, it was a good 5 degrees cooler than any other ride so far this year, but a very long way off the all-time Tuesday/Thursday-morning record of 23 degrees, recorded on a December day in, what, 1998? That was an epic day, one that defined “layered” clothing. Today? Not so bad. Still got to work a bit on the gloves though; my fingers have yet to find a glove that keeps the tips warm.

Let’s see, we had Kevin, Kevin, Karl, Eric, George, Mark, Todd, and a rare (lately) Marcus showing. And again, I didn’t feel all that bad going up the hill. Whether by sheer willpower or something else, the bad days seem to be behind me, hopefully for good. Even my weight seems reasonable, a rare thing for winter. I even tried to sprint a few times, something I’ve stayed away from for quite a few months. There’s some power in the legs, something I can tap into on-demand. It doesn’t last forever, but that’s been the case for a decade or so. But if I’m careful, if I know I’ve got some time to recover afterward, I can give it a try and not be dropped afterward.

I like that.