Cold Commute
Date: Dec 6 Thurs
Mileage: 13.5 (LHT)
December mileage: 29.5
Year to date: 2531.5
ipod: Kusula "Why Meditate?", Gil Fronsdal "Engaging in the Path"
Damn, it was cold today. I have certainly ridden in much colder weather, but I didn't quite layer properly, so I was cold both going and coming home. This morning's weather gave me 21F with a stiff wind. The strange part, though, was the misinformation supplied to me by the local faithful NPR station. At 5.30a.m. they reported 28F. At 6.05 25F. By the time I arrived at work weather.com listed 21F. I don't know about you other bikies out there, but there is a substantial difference between 28F and 21F/windy- different gloves, feet, headwear.
For today's 21F I wore the following:
head-thin polypro balaclava, thin Craft beanie
feet- thin sock, Sealskinz neoprene sock, thick wool, Lake sandals. You can put quite a bit of sock in the sandals, so they're preferred at these temps
hands- PearlIzumi lobster glove- unwearable above 30F
torso- thick Smartwool top, thin Smartwool top, Performance goretex jacket
legs- thin Smartwool tight, thickish REI loosefitting tight
The head was relatively comfy. The hands and legs too. I could've used a warmer torso ,but it wasn't too bad. The legs, though, presented big probs. Well, the 'legs' weren't the prob. As a by-product of incorporating the RBW kit instead of the club/pro lycra one, I've stopped using cycling-specific shorts. The Brooks B-17 is almost always preferable to the crotch discomfort I had with padded cycling shorts. Given this sartorial change, I failed to take into account a most important benefit cycling short have afforded me: the last layer of defense against Mr. Cold. With only 2 layers today, the unmentiontable, i.e. 'unit', was way too cold this morning. I would say I've never experienced such a temperature discomfort. If I remember, I wore a well-placed sock during last year's teens adventure. It had me thinking about some of those wind-front undershorts you see in the Performance catalog.
I survived and suffered no most indelicate frostbite. This afternoon it warmed up to 35F, but again I had only boxers (from work) and the REI pants. I should've worn the tights instead. Today's ensemble didn't quite work. I called 'BB' this morning and she had just woken up. I'll be curious to see how her commuting goes. Once you get below 30F you have to have both hardware (or softwear, as it were) and gumption to get rolling out the door. And tomorrow supuestamente 'Sheryl' is riding her new KHS urban bike to school for the first time. Gotta take a good look at that.
I'm not quite sure this is the model, but I think it may be. Jack of some trades, master of none. An aggro urban ride just isn't my taste. It doesn't have the flexibility of a road bike, nor the comfort of a hybrid. She shouldn't bought a Crosscheck, but it's not my money. If she's happy, that's all that matters. 'Course, we are under a "winter advisory" for tonight, with freezing rain and ick moving in through the night. We'll see if she's willing to make the maiden voyage in 35F soup.
Oh, one more thing. Did anybody else check out that nice crescent moon with a Venus above in the east this morning. Yet another reason to ride, aside from the freezing member.
Mileage: 13.5 (LHT)
December mileage: 29.5
Year to date: 2531.5
ipod: Kusula "Why Meditate?", Gil Fronsdal "Engaging in the Path"
Damn, it was cold today. I have certainly ridden in much colder weather, but I didn't quite layer properly, so I was cold both going and coming home. This morning's weather gave me 21F with a stiff wind. The strange part, though, was the misinformation supplied to me by the local faithful NPR station. At 5.30a.m. they reported 28F. At 6.05 25F. By the time I arrived at work weather.com listed 21F. I don't know about you other bikies out there, but there is a substantial difference between 28F and 21F/windy- different gloves, feet, headwear.
For today's 21F I wore the following:
head-thin polypro balaclava, thin Craft beanie
feet- thin sock, Sealskinz neoprene sock, thick wool, Lake sandals. You can put quite a bit of sock in the sandals, so they're preferred at these temps
hands- PearlIzumi lobster glove- unwearable above 30F
torso- thick Smartwool top, thin Smartwool top, Performance goretex jacket
legs- thin Smartwool tight, thickish REI loosefitting tight
The head was relatively comfy. The hands and legs too. I could've used a warmer torso ,but it wasn't too bad. The legs, though, presented big probs. Well, the 'legs' weren't the prob. As a by-product of incorporating the RBW kit instead of the club/pro lycra one, I've stopped using cycling-specific shorts. The Brooks B-17 is almost always preferable to the crotch discomfort I had with padded cycling shorts. Given this sartorial change, I failed to take into account a most important benefit cycling short have afforded me: the last layer of defense against Mr. Cold. With only 2 layers today, the unmentiontable, i.e. 'unit', was way too cold this morning. I would say I've never experienced such a temperature discomfort. If I remember, I wore a well-placed sock during last year's teens adventure. It had me thinking about some of those wind-front undershorts you see in the Performance catalog.
I survived and suffered no most indelicate frostbite. This afternoon it warmed up to 35F, but again I had only boxers (from work) and the REI pants. I should've worn the tights instead. Today's ensemble didn't quite work. I called 'BB' this morning and she had just woken up. I'll be curious to see how her commuting goes. Once you get below 30F you have to have both hardware (or softwear, as it were) and gumption to get rolling out the door. And tomorrow supuestamente 'Sheryl' is riding her new KHS urban bike to school for the first time. Gotta take a good look at that.
I'm not quite sure this is the model, but I think it may be. Jack of some trades, master of none. An aggro urban ride just isn't my taste. It doesn't have the flexibility of a road bike, nor the comfort of a hybrid. She shouldn't bought a Crosscheck, but it's not my money. If she's happy, that's all that matters. 'Course, we are under a "winter advisory" for tonight, with freezing rain and ick moving in through the night. We'll see if she's willing to make the maiden voyage in 35F soup.Oh, one more thing. Did anybody else check out that nice crescent moon with a Venus above in the east this morning. Yet another reason to ride, aside from the freezing member.
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