Santa rides a scooter

Today, Monday, December 7, was the first day below freezing that I have ridden this season. It snowed on Saturday night and didn’t really warm up all that much yesterday, but enough to melt whatever was on the streets. I knew it would refreeze overnight and I had said that I would only ride if it was above 32F when I got up this morning.

It was 28F according to WRNI. It’s not so much the cold; it’s the possibilityof ice patches on the streets that I did not want to deal with this morning. But…Erik’s car is still at Neil’s shop because the issue with the rear brake wasn’t just a stuck caliper but a crushed brake line. He ordered the part from the guy in East Sandwich who carries vintage Volvo parts and it should arrive today. I let him take my car. Even though I had 15 eBay packages that needed to be shipped out, I managed to bungee the two huge bags to the back of my Buddy and rode out into the street.

Not too bad and I worked hard to avoid every manhole cover. Between my paranoia of a package falling off (again!) and slipping on manhole covers, my foggy faceshield didn’t phase me one bit. My fingers were a bit cold when I arrived on campus, but every other part of me was warm. I gotta say that the FirstGear Escape Pants with the liner are really warm and comfortable. I was only wearing a pair of dress pants underneath and was in no way uncomfortable.

I just have to work on the cold air rushing into my helmet (where, oh where do you seep in?) and toasting up my hands, then I’ll be all set for the Cold Weather Challenge. And I have an idea about the hands.

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