"Good day for a bike"

 Fairly often, although rarely in winter, people will say that to me as I trundle past on two wheels when the weather is fair. My standard response is, "It always is, but for some of them I stay drier!" Yesterday morning I joined an open invitation group run organized by my friend, and Beast Coast grand poobah, Amy. As we were starting our trot, another friend that I'd also seen on a run the prior day asked how long my ride was from Granby to Mount Tom.

"An hour and a half, but it was much warmer than yesterday."

"Yes, definitely, so you weren't upset that I didn't stop to offer you a ride."

"You have to understand, I like riding a bike, so it's no hardship. I probably had more fun on my ride here than you had on your drive, and I even enjoyed it longer!"

Not only was riding fun, 

it let me find the insulated bottle 

on the side of Bay Road

 that needed the cap I found last year!

It seems people have been trained to think, or possibly the opposite of think, that the easy option is better than anything that requires more effort, or tolerance of minor discomfort. To me, that attitude seems like a possible hindrance to experiencing life, which can benefit from a bit of fortitude now and again.

That being said, today the temperature flirted with a temperature using a four for the tens digit, despite being mostly overcast, and yes, I genuinely appreciated that when I rode. It was my first ride in gloves, instead of mittens, in a long time, and they weren't even my thickest pair with the big gauntlets. Yup, it was a good day to ride a bike, and the weather was pretty nice as well!

Midweight gloves 

with a little extra ventilation 

courtesy of the mice that nibbled them

And yes, 

they were sourced the same way as the thermos.