Sunday AM ride Report -- P.E. Approved Mid-Winter Gear

A beard really takes the chill off on my morning commute [but I just needed to remove that offensive close-up photo if I was going to recirculate this as a brief ride report, with Tom's input as well].

As planned, I made a 7:35AM start, aiming for 8:15AM from Sekidobashi. I did meet Tom and Nishibe-san at Sekidobashi ... but was nearly 10 minutes late because of the headwinds. We struggled toward Takao, finally making decent time once the path turned far enough toward the West so we were not going upwind. My legs held up okay, with Tom having taken a long ride and Nishibe-san having run a 1/2 marathon on Saturday. During the rest at the PE recommended Takao convenience store, Tom gave me a pack of his chemical footwarmers -- tiny, and they easily slipped inside my toe covers and outside my shoes. Toasty. I will need some supply for the rest of the winter.

We headed back in via the "Hino Bypass", coming back to the Tamagawa about 2 km North of Y's, near the temporary end of the Tamagawa cycling path. We lost Nishibe-san at some lights along Hino Bypass, but he called Tom's phone and we headed home.

It was great riding home downwind, zooming along at 38-40 kph despite being fat and weak. I've started the road back!

Tom's supplement:

Thought the beard looked really sharp on you! Yeah...Kafun-season and Haru-ichiban sandstorm may soon want you to start shaving again! Thanks again for the quick ride this morning. It didn't look like your shoulder was giving you much trouble....powerful riding style sure intact!

(Fujisan in the back....I know....I tried to photoshop but to no avail)

And my photo of Tom: