Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Out of Shape

Tonight's Low-Battery Partial Track
It was, again, cold and clear today.  People often comment to me about being "so persistent" by riding year round, but I think they fail to realize just how many other all-weather cyclists are out there more faithfully than I am.
23 December, for instance, I drove all the way to work because of ugly weather warnings.  The morning was decent enough to have ridden the bike, but by noon the snow had started falling and the WIND was gale-force howling nasty-bad,. and driving across Albuquerque after work trying to get home was a struggle, with the horrible winds literally blowing me sideways with huge gusts and freezing snow blowing blizzard-fashion.  Yet I passed at least 3 or 4 cyclists coming up Tramway, uphill, in that horrible weather.  I NEVER ride but what I pass several  other cyclists, no matter how cold or dark it might be.  I'm impressed by them and try to emulate them... at least in their passion for bike-riding.
I was dismayed this morning to find my super-bright flashing red tail light was gone: 
Evidently fallen off somewhere.  I ordered 2 more from Amazon - I really like the bright attention-getter light back there.
Then, tonight, as I started across the intersection of Alameda and Jefferson, something fell out of my leg pocket with a thunk and landed out in the MIDDLE of the intersection, with all kinds of heavy traffic in all directions.  I disgustedly pulled to the side of the street once I got through the intersection.  I thought it must have been a new pocketbook novel (I just bought and started reading) but when I walked back to the intersection and looked, it was only one of my cheap plastic water bottles.  I had walked out of work with it in my side leg pocket, intending to insert it into the bottle bracket on the bike, and instead had ridden off and up to the intersection with it still in my leg pocket.  I started to dodge into the intersection to retrieve the bottle of water, but suddenly thought how cheap it was;  I haven't been using it for drinking while riding since the cold weather started, so could obviously make it back to the car without it.  Plus, if a car hit it or ran over it, it would merely pop and spray water onto the car and pavement - worst case.  So, I let it lie and went back to the bike and rode off bottle-less.  Good riddance.  I refill the bottles after Jacque buys them and empties them of their tasteless store bought water and "only" have 40 or so of them.... so I can find another one to stick on the bike rather easily.
I was also dismayed at how weak and slow I got over the last couple weeks , eating Christmas goodies without riding.  The only exercise I've been getting is chopping and hauling firewood, with little leg exercise - and I certainly noticed it today along with the increased stiffness of sore muscles when I got to work.