Outdoor Winter Ride...In Shorts???

Normally at this time of year, there is about five feet of snow on the ground and the temperature is -5 degrees C.  Oddly enough, the rest of North American seems to be having a normal winter but here in Southern Ontario the winter has been balmy to say the least.  We only got one half decent snowfall before Christmas and I haven't even put gas in the snow blower.  We had one cold spell where the weather dipped down to -10 degrees C but only lasted a couple of days. 

The forecast for today's weather was for a balmy 13 degrees C!!!  Unreal!  No trainer ride today.  Yesterday, I emailed Rom and Mike A to see if they wanted to head out first thing this morning but both declined.  I badgered Rom yesterday but he refused and Mike went swimming instead however when I woke up it was rainy and foggy.  It was way too dangerous to ride so we went to Costco to pick up a couple of things and $100 later it was noon and the sun was out.  Time to ride.  I emailed Peter A and Paul S but no response so I decided to head out by myself. 

I had put a trainer tire on my tri bike which is too slick to ride outside, so I dusted off my road bike, pumped up the tires and headed out in the glorious sunshine.  The temperature was about 12 degrees C and I only wore a running shirt as a base layer, a white bike shirt, arm warmers and shorts.  It was surreal riding outside in shorts but it felt odd riding the road bike.  I had not ridden it since June 2011 when I got the tri bike.  I felt very high in the seat and my legs were fully extended.  I had taken the seat off but don't remember changing the height of the post.  I noticed the post was about one inch about the black tape I had marked.  I didn't plan on riding for that long so I didn't bother adjusting the seat. 

I headed north on Mccowan and noticed several people were looking at me rather oddly.  Not sure why.  There was a pretty good cross wind and riding up slight hills required way more effort than I remember.  Could I be that badly out of shape?  I turned west on Elgin Mills and then north on Warden Ave.  The city recently paved the road and I flew up Warden.  I felt pretty good so I kept heading north past Stouffville Road and Bloomington Road.  At this point, I had to stop and adjust my seat post as my right knee was aching and I dropped it about one inch.  For the life of me, I can't remember why I would change the height.  By this time, sweat was pouring down my face as it was pretty warm.  I finally hit Davis Dr and turned back south....right into a head wind.  Well I guess that explains why I was riding so good heading north.  I had a nice tail wind pushing me along.  Duh.  The ride back home was a struggle as my back and neck began to ache.  The set up of the road bike and tri bike are way different.  Thankfully I had left my aero bars on the bike but the stack felt like I was six inches higher than the tri bike.  I didn't feel very aero but it was better than sitting upright.  I kept riding south, regretting I rode so far north as the sun disappeared behind the clouds and my toes began to get cold.  I was wearing wool socks but didn't put my booties on.  

It felt good to be riding outside but by then I was done. 

2:05 hours
55.4 km
1,397 calories