New Years Eve and Larry was checking the weather--once,
twice, three times--but every time it was just the same, twenty-eight degrees
was the forecast for Tuesday morning, New Years Day.
He checked an app on his phone for the wind chill factor and
found that there is the “old” wind chill factor and the “new” wind chill
factor. There wasn’t much difference,
only two degrees and when you are riding down the freeway at sixty miles per
hour, minus eleven or minus 13 isn’t going to make you feel any warmer.
We woke to find the ground covered in frost and crystal
clear skies with no wind. This would
mean ice on the roads and black ice in the shadows and anywhere the fog would
creep in.
Heated gear is wonderful but sometimes it is still not
enough. I get much colder than Larry so
I layered: UnderArmour coldgear leggings, jean, chaps, tank top, UnderArmour
turtleneck, UnderArmour quarter zip long sleeve top, heated liner, sweatshirt,
buff for the face, fleece face buff, and heated gloves. I sort of felt like the Pillsbury dough boy
in black. The feet were toasty warm in
Milwaukee socks and my police tactical boots…I’m ready to ride. Now to get on the bike and plug in. My older son laughed when I explained all
this to him later as he asked, “I thought you didn’t ride if it was below fifty
degrees?” I guess when you know you are
going to ride with friends you make adjustments to what your “limits” really
are in life.
Larry of course had his heated liner and gloves and a couple
of extra layers but nowhere near as many as I did.
We stopped to gas up the bike and head to Sehome
Starbucks. Of course we were early—but
still late for our group. They were
already finishing coffee and having a relaxed leisurely conversation when we
sauntered in from the cold. No clear
destination in mind…it is not the ride that counts but who you ride with.
The Acme Café is under new ownership and that was our
destination for lunch. We wondered, on
the way to lunch, if the café would be open on New Year’s Day. It was and even though they were busy because
of being short handed, the chef took our orders and the food was really
good. It is not often you will also find
the chef clearing plates, but she did it with a smile and appreciated the compliments
about the food.
We headed home to a warm fire, a cup of coffee, a quiet
evening, and an attitude of, “I’m glad we did it” for braving the cold. We hope no rain on New Year’s Day is a good
sign that we will have plenty of dry weekend ahead of us to ride with friends
and make more memories.
