It's been cold, and I was ill-equipped to deal with it. Plus, my last commute left me with 3 days of lower back pain (due to riding with a very heavy backpack). So I haven't been riding to school.
In the meantime, I've made an investment in panniers and some Bar Mitts, and I'm in the process of setting up my Redline CX bike as a dedicated commuter.
Donnie from DAS is letting me borrow his Kona Kapu for use on the trainer/rollers so I won't have to switch the commuter back and forth from an indoor rig to an outdoor rig all the time. That will make life much easier.
Also, I made some discoveries on campus this week:
- There is a locker room in the athletic complex that anyone can use - not just athletes (this is in addition to the team-only locker room, and it is not really a well-known feature of ECSU which is why nobody told me about it when I was asking around). This means access to a locker for storage of "stuff" and the ability to shower.
- The spin bikes in the athletic complex are actually nice. I did an interval workout on them in between classes and work on Tuesday, and that's going to be a key training tool for me this semester until it gets warmer and the roads clear a bit (there's a perfect place to do hills on the road bike nearby).
So now I just need to figure out a way to store food on campus, and I'll be all set. I have permission to leave some items in an alcove of the biology department's office wing, but I don't want to leave anything perishable there. A refrigerator drawer would be ideal. I'll have to make-do with the gold mine I've found this week (lockers, showers, and spin bikes).
Now, I want to get back to commuting this week, but the forecast is looking like typical New England winter weather. Snow overnight tonight, and snow/rain all day on Thursday (Mondays and Thursdays are the days that I'm best able to commute right now). I might end up trying for Tuesday instead.
Despite whatever happens this week, warmer days are coming.
