Typical winter day at the office. I spent an hour riding in sub-freezing weather, and was perfectly comfortable and warm for the entire ride. Now I’m freezing cold sitting here in my 70° office. Never underestimate the power of moving around to keep blood circulating, I guess.
This was my coldest ride into work of the season so far, and I actually dropped a layer for the ride. The past few rides, where it’s been around freezing, I wore a long sleeve shirt over a short sleeve athletic tee. My outer layer was a reflective vest over a wind-breaker jacket, for a total of 4 layers on my torso and 2 layers on my arms. I was getting too sweaty with this combo, so this morning I decided to lose the short sleeve tee shirt, and it worked out pretty well. I didn’t sweat as much, nor was I any colder.
I rode through Catonsville again today. I am slowly refining my route through this area. I recently discovered Magruder Ave., which runs parallel to and just south of Frederick Rd. Magruder is a great alternative to riding on Frederick through the heart of Catonsville, particularly the area around the Post Office, which seems to be a magnet for inattentive drivers. Coming east on Edmondson Ave., I’ve been taking Beaumont Ave., turning left on Frederick, right on Locust Dr., left on Magruder, then right on Mellor, left on Bloomsbury, and right on Asylum into Spring Grove. It looks like I could take Magruder all the way out to Bloomsbury if I wanted to, though that area is currently under construction. An alternative would be to take Osborne instead of Beaumont, then cross Fredrick and take Forest to Magruder. The pavement on Beaumont is in really bad shape, so I would be curious if Osborne is any better.