TurDucKen... minus the Tur.

Ok, so the Duck chickened out.

I was so anxious that I actually lost sleep.  I gave myself the option of riding with the women's group leaving from a different shop.  That ride left later and was local, diffusing two of my imagined gripes with the ride that intimidated me.  Plus the later time meant that if I procrastinated my way out of a ride, it was no excuse.  The bases were covered.

I woke up and got every layer I own onto my body (not much for a Florida duck) and headed out the door... AND got smacked in the face with a strong, bitter north wind.  It blew my hatch closed while I was trying to load gear.  It cut through all my layer like a knife through butter.  My hands were numb in moments.

I went back in a searched (again) for an ear cover that would work with my helmet.  No luck.  If I did this it would be with no protection from the collar bone up and the wrists/ankles down.  I could likely keep my core warm but my extremities were on their own.

I texted the conditions MVF, a cold weather die-hard and got validation for my whimpiness.  She said that my cycling clothes were totally inadequate for the conditions and I risked terrible, dire things if I rode in that.  Okie dokie!  Good enough for me.

I did swim later, doing my best impression of a submarine with nothing but an eyeball out of the water between intervals and ultimately did my hours on the indoor trainer.  Thankfully a certain tv streaming website is willing to keep the Law & Order coming while I ticked off 124 minutes of intense boredom and profuse sweating.

Then I ate homemade soup for dinner.