Yes, I am Serious

Temperature at departure = 2° F (-17° C)

I'm fighting a little bit of a cold that I picked up in Dallas, so I debated with myself about getting out to ride this morning. That is, I debated with myself for about 10 seconds ... 2° would beat my previous low temperature of 6° set back in February. So, I bundled up and started to head out the door. My niece, who had spent the night, looked at me and said "You are not serious."

I decided to stay with a route that was entirely in traffic today since I was on my nice bike and it appears the bike path is still mostly ice covered. Didn't take long for me to realize that the drivers that passed me must have been thinking the same thing as my niece, "You are not serious" -- they gave me plenty of room.

At mile 1.5 I got the feeling that my bike was saying "You are not serious." Suffice it to say, the rear derailleurs were a bit sluggish.

At mile 2.5, my body was saying "You are not serious." I made the mistake of closing my eyes for a moment at a red light and a few seconds later when I opened them I found that my eyelashes had frozen together a bit. No big problem. Breathing that cold air felt a little funny at that same time.

At mile 3.5 everything seemed wonderful. My sinuses had cleared up a bit and with the exception of the end of my little fingers, I was toasty warm. Fun ride.