Thursday, October 06, 2005

Drawing Lines, Lowering The Bar

This week is a very important week for me. If I'm not riding when it’s 40 degrees then I won’t be riding when it’s 30 degrees. And if I'm not riding when it’s 30 there’s no way I'll be riding when it’s 20. These three temperature points make a pretty good summary of yesterday, today and tomorrow. So far, I’m feeling really good about the coming winter.

Here are a couple things about the changing season I’ve been pondering as I ride:

What Not To Wear – I’m a geek, I have a spreadsheet that I keep for cold weather rides. I record temperature factors, what I wore (feet, hands, head, legs, torso), and my perceived comfort levels. I’m working hard to train myself to wear less to minimize sweat. Too much sweat means riding home in wet clothes which seems fraught with danger.

Where Not To Ride – I’m experimenting with alternate routes to work. As I experiment I’m imagining what the roads would feel like if they were icy. I’m also preparing a personal petition to city government. Part of my normal commute includes a gravel dike. If it doesn’t get plowed this winter the most direct alternate routes to work include 40,000 car roads. There are other less direct routes with fewer cars but less direct has new meaning when it’s 0 degrees out.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

re: wearing less v. sweat

No matter what you wear, get a good wicking base layer that dries quickly. That way you can take it off at work, rinse it in the sink and it will be dry for the ride home.

I can really recommend techwick products from EMS, but REI or any other sports oriented place will have something similar.