I knew today was going to be cold; it was projected at 9F, as of last night. So I got out lots of clothes. Two pairs of socks for my feet. Shorts and tights for my legs (although not the thermal shorts, as they were already dirty). Base layer and jersey for my torso. Ski gloves and liners for my hands. FuguJack for the outer shell.
The only thing I didn't do, that I would have, is to wear a helmet cover for my head, but I don't have one of those. Well, and the gloves that I was expecting to arrive yesterday did not; I was pretty pissed about that. Somehow (assuming they arrive today), they will have taken two days to go fifteen miles or so. A handoff to the post office (from UPS) had something to do with it; the irony there being that UPS still had to deliver some other packages today. Regardless of the reason, it pissed me off to be missing cold-weather gloves on the coldest day of the year.
In any event, I got out on the road at the normal time, riding the hybrid. I skipped any trails, so I might have been ok on the road bike, but didn't want to chance it (plus, the avoiding of the trails was not really a planned decision; more of one made while riding).
I got down to Shirlington, still feeling pretty well. I only had the tiniest bit of chilliness in my fingers, and felt fine everywhere else. But when I circled around Shirlington, I noticed that my phone or RFLKT+ had died, and after a couple minutes I figured out how to tell that it was the phone that had gotten too cold. Ugh.
Since I was feeling a little bit in my fingers, I was already starting to think about turning around. Seeing the phone dead confirmed that decision, and I felt really good about the decision once I realized that the phone being dead meant that I could end up in real danger if I had some sort of mechanical problem with the (sixteen or seventeen year old) bike.
So I ended up going straight home; I thought about the same side trip to East Falls Church I'd taken the last couple of days, but decided that my fingers weren't going to handle it. Plus, I was even more likely to have trouble with mechanical issues.
My timing ended up being pretty good, as I got home right as my wife was outside to get the newspaper. That meant I could take the bike straight inside, rather than leaving it in the garage for a while as I normally do. Plus, I didn't need to take my hands out of my gloves to get the garage open. Win, win.
One thing that occurred to me, that I didn't test, is that I might be able to wear my new middle-layer jacket under my FuguJack. When I got home, I tested that, and it fits ok (not perfect, of course, but workable, I think). So instead of a heavy base layer and jersey, I think I'll wear that jacket under the fugujack, next time I find temperatures in the single digits. Or maybe a heavy base layer and the smartwool midlayer that I just remembered that I have (and that I got for just such days). I guess we'll see. The limiting factor will still be the gloves, though, I'm pretty sure.
Well, tomorrow will feel balmy, with temperatures in the mid to low 20s projected. Recovery day. And I think I'll ride the road bike.
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