milestones

[totient]

Temps in the low 40s this morning, so I broke out the booties for the first time this season, in addition to the silk long undershirt and the lovely but increasingly tattered silk undergloves. Soon it will be time for the heavier undergloves, and maybe tights instead of shorts.

A coworker asked how long into the season I keep riding. I really don't know the answer to that question. I didn't ride yesterday or the day before because of the wet -- cold and wet is worse than snow in my opinion. I won't ride the Ciocc once they start to salt, even if it's nice out, and with morning coming later my rides are getting me in to work later than I'd like to arrive. The time change will help with that, but even so sunrise in midwinter will be as late as it is now in local time for much of January, and that has already been enough to keep me from riding a couple of times this season. Riding the (slower) Cannondale will add to this effect. And of course there is the snow. The parts of the bike path that I ride aren't plowed, and of course it's a much longer ride than I was doing to Kendall Square. Will I, or won't I? Will driving turn out to be just as bad, or will it be a nice toasty warm half an hour listening to NPR? I have no idea.

Comments

[42itous.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking I want to ride at colder temperatures this winter. In the past my cut-off has been 32 because I was afraid of ice on the roads, but now I'm thinking of getting winter tires. Then the problem would be eye protection, because when it's cold I can't see through the tears, and then I blink and so my nose runs. So, what? Ski goggles? Are there goggles designed for biking? I have a plain balaclava that fits under my helmet; I wonder if I'll want something warmer for my ears if I'm riding in colder temperatures.

Anyhow, any advice you have would be appreciated.

[palmwiz.livejournal.com]

I ride with my regular glasses (or sunglasses; there can be a lot of glare in winter). There is prescription cycling eyewear including winter-specific eyewear (the Adidas Elevation ClimaCool, for instance) but it's expensive and I have no idea if it would really work for me, or for you. I find that wearing a face mask or balaclava really affects how the wind hits my eyes and the fix for tearing up too much was to try different face protection until I found something that didn't deflect the air in that direction. That took a bunch of trial and error, but face protection is pretty cheap.

While I do use a neoprene mask when it's really cold, in temps above 15F or so I stick with my cashmere hat. It does wonders for keeping my ears warm without any of the runny-nose or peripheral vision issues.

My big piece of advice is always bring extra cold gear with you.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

Thank you!
I tried sunglasses for the first time recently, and for the first mile they directed the wind right into my eyes but after that they were fine (I have no idea what changed).
So I'll keep experimenting. Neoprene mask sounds promising, as does cashmere for the ears.

[muffyjo]

Cashmere Ears! Er, you meant over them, I'm sure. I just like the visual there. You really do amaze me with your stick-to-it-ness about biking. It's inspiring (if not a little daunting).

[http://users.livejournal.com/cgull_/]

booties before tights? you have everything backwards. (so says my slightly cranky right knee.)

i wuss out at about 25 to freezing, below that it just isn't much fun for me. i also wuss out when the roads get salty and grungy or snowy and icy.

in past years when i was cycling more heavily, i'd pretty much hang the bike up from sometime in december till late march, but last year i was riding to work on occasional nice days all winter.

[foms.livejournal.com]

I've been known to cycle in -30C weather. I'm fully in agreement that wet is much worse than snow for cycling in the cold. I'll generally only set out on dry pavement. If it starts snowing, I'm pretty ok with it but when it rains, I get off the bike as quickly as I reasonably can.

I grew up in Montreal, where they mostly remove the snow from the streets and the rest sublimates off. In Ottawa, they clear down to pavement only downtown and on major roads. On the rest, they plow down to an inch or two thickness. Also, it's only downtown that they remove it (elsewhere it is just pushed to the gutter) so there is almost always some melt-water on the roads. Twelve years after moving, I'm still annoyed.

As I get older, it seems that it takes me longer to get the blood flowing strongly in my extremities. When I used to wear knit gloves with fingerless cycling gloves over, I now wear a pair of thin, wind-breaking gloves, then insulated gloves, and then, sometimes, another pair of overgloves. Then again, I don't usually ride for more than 30 or so minutes at a time in winter, these days (commuting and errands). My inner thighs sometimes feel uncomfortably cold, nowadays, too.

I'm seriously thinking about trying a thinner lube for winter. Regardless, I've got to find a way to remember to lubricate more often.

[palmwiz.livejournal.com]

Hand protection is probably the limiting factor in terms of how cold I can go out in. I have a pair of good Pearl Izumi gloves, and some knit undergloves that are warmer than the silk ones I wore today, and those will get me down to maybe -5F (-20C) depending on the wind, and that's where it stops. Happily, it doesn't get colder than that in Boston very often. Certainly not often enough for me to worry about relubing the bike in oil instead of grease.