Down in the single digits.

Getting out in the morning was no different than any other day, just add a pair of wool long johns to wear under athletic slacks and I'm ready for anything. It's winter in Michigan. That's all that needs to be said. I threw on a gaiter for the neck and my hooded ski parka before heading out to the garage. Walgint to the garage I cuss myself out for being stupid, but check the tires on the Giant 29er. Yep, the Marathon Winters feel solid. The streets have had some more snow over night and are a narrow mixture of packed snow, melt and ice. The snow plows hadn't gotten over the previous storm and left the bike lanes covered in twice the snow that fell. That meant taking the lane for a block to cut through a parking lot where the snow and ice were a little more challenging but the traffic was not. I found my trigger shifter had frozen overnight. I was stuck in one gear for a couple blocks until it loosened up. Damned new fangled crap, I'll probably end up switching to a friction shifter that always works. Moving onto the sidestreets, I began to feel the heat kick in under my clothes and pulled back the hood to be sure I didn't overheat. Getting past the Interstate underpass was the only obstacle. The sidewalks were not cleared, so I waited at the intersection, looked north towards the lights a block away and waited for Red. Once the lights held the traffic, I made my sprint. The traffic is light enough at this time of the morning that I had the right lane all to myself. I caught the light in time to race past the traffic held from the highway and made the dash for two blocks into another parking lot before the cars behind got to me. After that, the side streets proved a bit mushy and slow while the parking lots were being plowed by trucks hard at work getting things ready for the shoppers. It's a couple of miles of snowy alley catting away from traffic to cut through the parking lots of the malls before cutting over to the trail for a few blocks.

The fresh snow was a bit deep, but the trail surface doesn't provide any surprises and without the ice and packed snow it was an easy ride. One grade on the trail is a bit challenging since you have to stay in the saddle to maintain traction but it was only a couple of minutes of suffering before coasting into the queue at the stoplight to approach the High School parking lot. I've never had a real problem getting through the maze of cars at the school lot, but it is full of lost, inexperienced and frightened teen age drivers. Taking the lane, and staying in the flow of traffic keeps things safe, normally I could pass everybody on the right, but not with a bunch of ice and snow piled against the curb. Of course it never occurs to any maintenance people that the bike racks would be used, so I had to roll it over the snowbank to lock it up.

A couple students asked if I was cold riding in this weather, I told them I worked up a bit of a sweat getting there, did they? NO? I guess I was warmer.