Brrrrr, already.

This week I'm on vacation relief in Lawrenceburg, TN. Basically, I'm covering for a classmate who's on vacation. The hospital is 1:45 away from my house, so they provide us a house to stay in. It's a decent little place, and it's got everything one needs...heat, washer/dryer, hot water with good water pressure, cable, internet connection...you know, the basics.
Today I got out of the hospital at 1pm after doing 11 cataract cases. Yep, I did 11 cases in under 5 hours. Our team today was the model of effeciency to say the least. With an entire afternoon to myself I figured I go for a ride. It's important to mention that it snowed here yesterday and many school districts in TN were closed d/t weather today. So, I had mapped out the nearest portion of the Natchez Trace and decided I'd try to add a few miles onto the end of the furthest point to which I'd ridden while training for the century. In effect, I'm piecing my way down the Natchez trace, which is over 440 miles long! It would be ~20 miles north to my furthest point, and 20 miles back to the car, and I should be able to make it by sunset - that was the plan. Well, I started riding north and had gone 15 miles before I realized that I wasn't going to make it back to the car before sunset, so I had to turn around. I finished just before the sun went down, but the last 5 miles were basically in the shade where it was 38 degrees!!!
All told I rode 30 miles in 2:18 and I never stopped once!!! I was absolutely frozen on the drive back to the house; I never realized I could stand my car heater at 90 degrees for any length of time, but today it was hardly hot enough. When I made it back to the house, the super hot shower with great water pressure was wonderful...it was actually probably better than I would've had at home.
While I'm glad that I got out, rode, cleared my head, and challenged the elements....what was I thinking? It's freaking cold out there, people!