18 Degrees of Glory

Today's Chilly Cycling Catalogue
Yesterday was a grand example of why I should never pay attention to the weatherman. - it makes me even question my OWN ability to look at the portending sky and make any valid assumptions.
The weather-guessers have been proclaiming "Afternoon High Winds and Arctic Temperatures" for the last several days, and the actualities have been rather mundane.  Yesterday morning I awoke with memories of the wind howling outside much of the  night.  The weather-dude again announced high winds and horrible cold temperatures by early afternoon.  I was all set to ignore this and ride the recumbent anyway but when I walked out to the car I could see lowering clouds off to the west and other side of Sandia Crest, and a very reddish tinge to them.  The old saying "Red Sky at Morning, Sailor Take Warning" always resonates with me so I made the difficult decision to just drive all the way to work and take a day off from cycling.  It turned out to be quite cold, but the winds were quite minimal and when I left work in the GAS HOG CAR, I was again chagrined to notice how calm it was and regretted, again, that I had not ridden the bike.  I guess in future I will try to rely on what's going on NOW weather wise and ride if at all possible and dodge or worry about the afternoon weather when it happens.  Absolute worst case scenario:  Jake (my youngest son) lives only about a mile from where I work and I could always call him or his wife Stacy to come rescue me and let me sleep on their couch.  Which doesn't sound unpleasant at all, though I'd likely get in trouble for being too rowdy and noisy with my VERY invigorating grandchildren.
This morning?  Colder than yesterday (18 degrees at the house when I got up, and 33 degrees when I saddled up the bike in town) but quite pleasant riding weather.  Lots of other hardy weather-fearless cyclists out there on the paths too, including a rather lovely eye-candy type that would encourage crowded cyclist trails should the word get out that she's a regular.

A fleeting View...

Pre-Ride BG: 138                          BG when arrived at Work:   100
Beginning Battery Voltage: 12.5       Ending Voltage: 12.5   (Gel Cell battery pack,  charged last night)
Beginning Temperature:  33 F (in ABQ)        Ending Temperature:  44 F
Morning Stats from the GPS:        Total Miles:    7.42
Overall average speed         Moving Avg           Max Speed
8.4 Mph                              10.0 mph               20.3 mph
Total Trip time                    Moving Time          Stopped Time
52 mins 59 secs                  44 mins 35 secs     08 mins 24 secs