First commute of the year! And while showering before I left I was seriously tempted to break my consecutive streak and just drive. But I didn't.
I'd been off a bike for two full weeks while we were traveling in Ohio and Kentucky. So that didn't do anything positive for my fitness. Plus, the temps in those states were in the 40s and 50s, so that didn't do anything positive for my winter skin.
This morning was 9F with a -7F wind chill. We got a couple inches of snow on Monday which wasn't enough to cause the plows to run. Yesterday's temp was below zero which caused the snow on the pavement to become rutted hard pack and ice. That really slowed me down, causing my average speed to be about 7 mph.
I overdressed. Fearing the cold temps I threw on an extra sweatshirt between my work shirt and my windbreaker. Had the roads been dry pavement I probably would have been OK with this, but with all the extra effort I had to exert with the snow I arrived at the office a sweaty mess. Oops.
Being the first commute of the year I stopped to take a photo to commemorate the event. Then I chatted for a minute with the guy you can see walking in the distance. He walks the MUP every morning all year round, so we've become acquainted.