Mileage: 11.5 (9.2.5.)
January mileage: 185.5
Year to date: 185.5
Pues, I did it, I would say I enjoyed it. We have balmy 15F here, albeit with beautiful blue sunny skies. It is also listed as a 3F windchill, but I noticed very little wind, so that # is a bit overrated. Yesterday I tweaked the fixie (got it tweaked as it were), going with a 17 in the back insted of the 19 on there. After today's ride I'm further decided that it was a good decision. I originally moved from a 16 to a 19 b/c the area around the neighborhood can be hilly. At the time, though, I had no experience with fixies and didn't know of the concept of balancing the ability to climb with that of the need to descend without spinning out. I also had thought of moving the flip-flop to a comparable size that the 20 that's on there. They didn't have anything much in stock, so I left it. Who knows if the chain length will jibe or not, but I've never not had it as a fixie.
Today's uniform for said temps:
head- Descente skull cap, Performance fleece balaclava. Good choice on both parts. I forgot my helmet.
torso- C'dale fleece baselayer, Smartwool zip top, Bellweather winter jacket. Almost a bit warm but in the long run perfect.
legs- wool undies, REI black pant thigns, Performance fleece pants. Again, good choices all round. Comfy the whole time and not terribly bulky.
hands- Peal Izumi lobsters. Hand hands sweating at 15F, but warm the whole time too.
feet- Ahh, the winkest link as usual- smarwool sock, newspaper baggies, Sealskinz sox, thick wool (mostly) sox, Target cheapass shoes.
My toes were pretty red and uncomfy by the time I got home (out an hour, maybe with pic stops). i think the inner layer of wool sweated too much inside the baggies, so the wind cooled the moisture off. I remember riding to work in this type of setup, but with Lake sandals instead of the shoes and it was better.?? If I were out for longer than an hour, I would have to rethink the feet thing entirely. I don't know how the cold-climate people do it. Maybe fewer layers and a different shoe? I don't have a hiking boot capable. Really I had good luck @ 25F with the new Monkey sock and Targhees, but that's 10 degrees warmer.
I've previously expounded on my preference for winterberry. This is one, with bird nest barely visible, in Seneca Gardens.
Berry close up. Pretty nice pic.
Damn, Bamboo!!! It's a crazy plant (grass), and I think this is a runner. The left side of the house is quickly disappearing. The neighbors must love it, the thought of that weed jumping over into their yard. This is obviously a hearty cold-China cultivar.
9.2.5. fixie, including Brooks honey B-17, Banana bag and Wald basket. The front fender is still mounted by the back one not from yesterday's project. I've decided to move the fenders to the old Trek b/c it's a better beater rain bike.
New drivetrain setup. 42x17 with new thicker chain (I'm not versed as to the 2 sizes. This one is the 3/8". Is that correct?) to fit both fixed freewheel.The pencam is portable, but it mostly sucks. The button is sensitive, so I get 5x as many pics of the inside of my pocket and such instead of those I take. It also has that washed out quality. Oh well, it was 15F and my standards low.
2 comments:
I like the 9-2-5, it looks great. Congrats on getting out on such a cold day! It took me four years of experimenting to get the clothing right in those kind of temps.
And thanks for the comment on the LHT/Atlantis post of mine. I thought of you when I wrote it, knowing you had a LHT and a Rivendell.
Hey, thanks for checking out my blog. Nice-looking bike you've got there, those 9-2-5s are sweet.
I'm still working on keeping my feet comfortable, but my girlfriend got me some Pearl Izumi shoe covers that work quite well. Haven't tried them in temps that cold, though.
I routinely wear hiking boots for cold commutes, though, and they work nicely. If I had bought them expressly for cold weather, I would've gotten a size or two bigger to allow more layers of socks.
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