Dear Strada's,
 
I agree with Nelson.  Cold is a relative term.  It's supposed to be sunny, and that makes a tremendous difference in the colder weather.  A sunny 40 degrees is much more tolerable and actually enjoyable than an overcase 40 degrees.
 
I wear several layers, and usually end up taking clothes off as the day progresses as I get quite hot.  
 
Besides... ask Nelson about his exploits last year, when he rode this event in sleeting rain and high winds.  This Saturday's weather will be great in comparison.
 
So you see, this wacky sport of Randonneuring puts everything in perspective.  Once you endure rides of extreme temperature varients, a ride like this Saturday's where it will be sunny, yet cool, will be a cake walk.
 
So come on, join us.  It will be great.

It really IS amazing what temperatures it's still "relatively" comfortable to ride in...  but I agree, full sunshine makes a WHOLE lotta difference.  38 and sunny beats the heck out of overcast and 52!
 
However, let's just say I got a better offer for today...

It's 2:00 pm now, and still colder than I'm willing to ride in........... sheesh. Tomorrow's supposed to warm up to 50 degrees. I guess I'll try for a few afternoon miles, then.

Too Cold, naw, I rode out from my apt on Post Oak and Trinity (just west of 360) and rode south west to River Legacy Park at 10AM. It was a beautiful sunny morning and temps were already up to 30F . $ other cyclists and about a dozen runners were out enjoying the uncrowded park. It was a bit windy but it didn't bother me too much. Hwy 157 wasn't very busy today and that made riding southbound a real pleasure for a change.

Steve,
 
LOL...
 
you're so right.  It was about 6am as I drove up to the start at Joe Pool.  The radio announcer said the wind chill was 18 degrees.  I didn't want to hear that.  I have a bag full of extreme cold weather cycling gear, and utilized them to their fullest.  
 
We started in the dark at 7am sharp.  I wore a under armor base layer, Craft cold weather shirt and my Sugoi jacket.  As Nelson said, it was sunny, and even though it was probably in the 30's at the warmest (with the wind chill) the sun made the "apparent temperature" much warmer than the "true temperature".  Since we dressed appropriately, it was a great day. Around noon I had to take off the Craft shirt as I was sweating.  After about mile 110 it was getting near dark again so I put it back on.  
 
One of the deceptive "ride awareness" lessons of ultra distance riding in the cold weather is that riders tend to forget to hydrate enough.  Many of the veteran riders bonk.  So if any of you ride in excess of 8-10 hours in the extreme cold (as Nelson and I did yesterday), drink, drink drink. and pee, pee, pee.
 

As it turned out I had to work over night Saturday night. Helping a store with its inventory. I don't think I could have ridden a 200k then worked all night . I'm not that tough .  
                                         Looking forward to see you all next month.
                                                                                        Mrs Strada

Quote from FlyingLaZBoy on Jan 21^st, 2008, 10:45am:

 
...or just another weekend night for me.