That's what I get...

... for not preparing last night!

I cooked some breakfast for the misses and I, while catching up on news, weather, and all the latest drama on some forums and mailing lists I'm on. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, I started gathering my things for work. I usually don't forget anything, as I've been doing this pretty much every work day since January 1st, and quite often but not daily before then.

The problem is, remembering what you want to take with you does no good if you can't find those things, and with a temperature of 15 Fahrenheit upon departure, things like thick gloves are somewhat important. I couldn't find them for the life of me. I had trouble finding my good balaclava, too. It's only been a few days! What gives?!

Well, I found my not-so-warm knit balaclava, and my mechanic's gloves. Better than nothing, I suppose. As I went to grab an extra layer of socks (I wear 2 layers on my feet below 20 degrees), I found my good balaclava. I got stuck riding to the bus in my mechanic's gloves, though. They were better than nothing, but not by much. They're meant to keep your hands from getting insanely greasy, and there's padding on the palms to absorb the impact and vibration from using tools all day long. Above freezing, they work pretty well, though.

Various weather forecasts are calling for temperatures to climb to the mid 30's, if not 40 degrees today. I guess my mechanic's gloves will be fine tonight. I'm not sure if I'm going to the Monday night ride or not. The park will likely be slushy. Riding on the trails would cause excess erosion and damage. I'll figure something out, though. My miles are lacking severely. I've put on 65 miles or so this month. None of them are recreation miles. I wanted to hit the trails a few times in December, but I don't even know if I'll make that goal.

It's not even about my desire to ride at this point. It's just that I've been busy as hell. 2 weeks ago, the Monday ride was canceled. Last week, there was an ice storm brewing and I was busy making ice tires. Work is crazy. The holiday season is crazy. I have other goals and projects (non-cycling related) that I'm working on as well. I might write a lot about my cycling adventures here, but I'm still a nerd at heart -- with all the "lab-or-a-tory" experimentation and other quirks that come with it.

So, it looks like December is going to be a bare-bones riding month, with very few miles aside from the daily trips to and from the bus stop.

Random Tunage:
The Killers - When you were young
Blank & Jones - Desire (Accuface Remix)