topaz

I biked to work this morning. It didn't get above freezing all day, so I wore long underwear under fleece exercise pants, an insulated biking jersey, and a polypropylene sweatshirt from the Army surplus store. My headgear for the last several weeks has been a fleece headband underneath my helmet, to protect my ears from the cold. As soon as I got on the bike this morning and started pedaling, I could feel the wind chill driving ice spikes into my brain, and I knew that wasn't gonna be enough.

Fortunately for me, I had the foresight to pick up a cheapo balaclava from the Army Barracks on my last trip, so I put that on and strapped the helmet over it. With all my padded black exercise clothes and the face mask, I told Ellen I thought I must have looked like the Michelin Ninja. It did the trick, though: after stowing my eyeglasses (they were fogging up too much) I was able to ride the 14 miles in to work in, believe it or not, reasonable comfort.

When I left work at 6:15 I discovered that it had started snowing. So I got my first taste of biking in the snow, whether I wanted it or not!

Things that I learned:
- It's definitely possible.
- I don't particularly want to do it again.

When there's actually a substantial layer of snow accumulating on the ground, it just feels too precarious, and it definitely slows me down quite a lot. I also suspect that fenders may be more of a hindrance than a benefit in the snow. They're great in the rain and probably even in slush, but they collect so much snow that it actually starts pushing against the wheels and making it harder to pedal. Lose, lose!