In a fluke of meteorology, personal scheduling, and dumb luck, temps were in the low 70's yesterday on a day when I got out of work by 2:30. After a quick side trip to get a taillight bulb for my wife's 2005 Prius, I hopped on the bike yesterday and cranked out a quick 10 miles, a treat for a mid-winter day.
Well, of course, after over two months of not having the bike on the road, it wasn't very quick: I averaged under 17.5 mph, and that was before the cool-down lap - way slow for a ten-mile loop; in the fall, I was doing far better than that over twice that distance. I've got some work to do before I get back into the shape I was in November, when I was leadin' the pack and crankin' up the hills.
10 miles wasn't near enough, of course, but with a bit of residual snow and ice on the ground (although not much; there's been serious melting goin' on), and gettin' close to rush hour on a Friday, I didn't want to be on the roads too long - there's only so much tempting of fate I want to do!
In other news, I was disappointed with the sprintech bar-end mirror. By the time the image appears, the car is fairly close (the mirror is curved, so there's some image distortion). It's better than nothing, and something to have on the bike when I don't have my full kit on, but the eyeglass-frame-clip mirror is much better. (You can say what you want about helmets, and most of the bike clubs and events require 'em, but the helmet is a resource of last resort, and I've never yet needed it -- but the mirror has saved my life at least twice. If it were up to me, the mirror would be the standard & required piece of safety equipment, not the helmet.)
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