too-cold ride

i hit the road today around 7:45. the sun was still down for most of my ride. in the shade, my thermometer read 31F. ugh.

first my fingertips froze. i seriously considered turning back but they seemed to thaw out a little on the approach to ralston trail.

then, the sun was in my eyes. i was blind most of the way up polhemus, and totally blind on the approach to horseshit bridge. along canada, there was frost on the ground -- lots of it. i don't think i've ever seen frost in san mateo, and it was quite nice. i'd appreciate it more if i wasn't freezing cold.

actually, even though i was dressed only for medium warmth, my body and limbs were plenty warm. it was only my fingers and eartips that bothered me.

when i hit edgewood i took my u-turn and cranked it up to max effort. this brought the wind chill down to arctic levels, and my thumbs began to freeze. from that point on my ride is basically an all-out effort, straight into the freezing wind. when i got home i had to take my gloves off with my teeth and run my thumbs under warm water for a couple of minutes -- very painful.

riding early sucks, and it's going to get even worse next week, when i head out at 7. bleh. maybe i'll get some better gloves.