32 is just a number. It's the mark in the Fahrenheit temperature scale that designates freezing. Above 32 and you're thawing, sweating, burning or roasting. Below 32 and you're getting popsicle toes.
As long as the road is bare, the wind is taking a nap, and there is daylight in the swamp, 32 is plenty warm for bicycle intervals. Today I did 16 miles of intervals. The course was in the rolling hills east of Milton-Freewater. It was Friday. The sun, however, had had enough work for one week. Only its color piercing through the thin clouds suggested warmth.
That was OK. You can be as comfortable as you dress to be. Getting too cold just means you haven't put on the right clothes, or have yet to invest in adequate insulation. I wore two pairs of cotton socks. My toes still got cold. I needed wool socks. There's a sheep somewhere grazing innocently in some meadow that is growing the wool I need for my next 32-degree bike ride. I hope he is growing the wool quickly because I will need it soon. Winter is only just getting started, and it's a joy to be able to have a few hours off work in the daylight to ride outdoors and get a Vitamin D fix. A number on a thermometer won't stop me.
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