2.3.2011 Ride: The Sound of One Studded Tire on Ice

I woke at 5:40 and, perhaps a bit reluctantly, pulled myself out of bed.  But if I wanted to set a new cold-weather ride for myself, I had to get moving.  To my horror, the monitor was showing a reading of 3 degrees ABOVE zero.  Certainly, that couldn't be right.  I looked more closely, assuming that I just was not seeing the minus sign.  But no, 3 degrees above zero it was.  I would still be riding in the coldest weather I ever have, but not the negative number I had hoped for.  It was as if my hopes to reach the top of Mt. Everest were dashed. 
I checked weather.com and they did have a -3 reading for Fayetteville.  But, I have been going by my home station and I was sticking by it now.  The different readings do make sense.  Weather.com gets its readings from the Fayetteville airport which lies down in the valley.  Cold air settles down in the valley while we are 300-400 feet higher. 
I had laid out all my gear the night before so I was able to dress very quickly.  Even so, between the time I took the picture of the monitor and the time I left, The temperature had risen up to 3.2.  I was on the bike just as the sky was beginning to lighten in the east.  No wind and the studded tires were biting into the ice even better than yesterday.  I headed to Hwy 45 with a bright white lamp up front and my rear flashing red light on my CamelBak.  I didn't even try to keep the water from freezing in the CamelBak tube, which it did in 10 minutes. 
The traffic on 45 was sporadic, with cars coming in clusters.  I thought I might try to go all the way to the Harp's Grocery store almost 4 miles away and say hello to the folks I know there and then head back.  But, about a mile away, I looked in my mirror and saw a long trail of headlights in the distance.  The vastly reduced morning work traffic was coming.  Continuing on with all these cars passing did not seem to be a wise choice so I did a U-turn which was indeed a good decision as the trail of cars turned out to be about 30 cars long.  As I made my way back, traffic going away from town continued to be light.
I turned on to Sassafrass Road to extend my ride.  The road was much icier than any of the others I had been on.  I smiled anew at how well the studs were working.  Sassafrass, returning back to 45, sloped gently downward for close to a half mile.  The studded tires fell into a rhythmic whomping sound.  A "wa-whoomp" accompanied by a "swoosh" sound.   It was truly an exhilirating sound as it represented so many things that were going right.  The closest similar sound I can think of is the rhythmic wooshing noise that skiis make when cross-country skiing.  It says the equipment is working and the body and mind are all working properly and in sync.  It was a special moment and even though there was still the very satisfying sound of studs against ice further down the road, it wasn't quite the same.
To make up for the lack of a subzero temperature, I decided to extend my ride to 90 minutes; I had to somehow push the envelope this morning.  But it was an easy decision as I was enjoying being out there pedaling.  And, I wanted ot enjoy those studded tires while I could.  In maybe two days time, there probably want be any need for them in who knows how long.

Today's Ride:  95 minutes.  @ 10.6 miles.  3 degrees at start time, 5 deg at finish of ride.
Miles YTD: 623.77