I walk to the gym, down the big hill to get there and up the big hill to get home. In winter I see most people leaving (going out the back door to the garage) wearing shorts and a light jacket, while I'm bundled up in my long down coat, scarf, hat (sometimes two hats), mittens (sometimes with wool glove liners), wool socks and Ugg boots.

So I did the weekly hill ride after work on Wednesday. Tried another route change that ended up making me climb a really steep hill, oh well. Forgot the cue sheet I had written up for a short extension toward the end, tried it anyway from memory, ended up going up another steep hill to a dead end at a school. Oh well. I might actually do the dead end to the school on purpose in the future. Also I had some problems with my contact lenses, possibly from ragweed or some other late summer pollen. I had to stop and put eye drops in my eyes at one point, and was a little worried the lenses would come out and leave me to finish the ride in blur. I guess I'll wear my glasses next time.

This weekend I'm looking at doing a ride with the club that I don't really like, because the route looks good. None of my friends are available to come with me and I know I'll be dropped within a 1/4 mile due to pace inflation and no sweep, so I'm going to start a half hour early. Also I modified the route a bit to add a second rest stop which I think is necessary on a hot day, and then changed a few things at the end to use more scenic and lower-traffic rural roads. The risk is that I'll be alone with no one to help if something goes wrong, but by starting early I'm hoping to have someone behind me for much of the ride. And I'll send the route to a few friends that I can call in case something goes really wrong.