40 degrees and in love...

It's true. From the years I spent in Alaska I thought I had learned to appreciate 40 degrees.

Not so. The East Coast is colder than many people give it credit for. I used to laugh at people wearing heavy jackets in the fall time (which isn't cold), but by the time winter rolled around I wasn't laughing any more.

And really I shouldn't have laughed to begin with, because the wool trenchcoat was really invented for New Yorkers since nobody else can wear one without people thinking that they're trying to look like they're from New York (the same is true for Carhartts and Alaskans).

Needless to say when I got up today and saw that it was going to be 40 or above (wind is irrelevant to a truly committed cyclist), I swapped out my rear wheel, put on my knickers and went out for a ride.

I did a short 30 mile loop because I still had to be in to work at 9 (and make my wife chocolate covered strawberries before I left--it is Valentine's Day after all) but it was refreshing being out in the open air with largely cleared shoulders (my opinion of what a clear shoulder is has changed since I lived out west--I used to insist that there be no gravel. Now as long as there's a path through the shattered hubcap and glass I consider it relatively clear) and almost no cars on the road.

I haven't been this in love on Valentine's Day since I met my wife-to-be...