Winter is on its jolly way, bringing along with it snow, cold, hot chocolate, scarves, and of course gratuitous Christmas music and films. I am currently preparing myself to handle the bombardment of holiday cheer by wearing flowered swim trunks and sunglasses around my house while listening to the complete works of Jimmy Buffet and drinking Corona's all day.
This particular hibernal season also presents me with the annual task of preparing to adjust my recreational activities for the winter. Instead of running, I dust off the snowshoes, the canoes have to be moved to the attic, while the skis are waxed and hung up in anticipation of the coming ski season. I guess I can keep golfing if I get a bright orange ball and maybe attach streamers to it. I'll just have to watch out for polar bears.
The real challenge for me each year is preparing to continue with one of my favorite hobbies, cycling, into the winter months. I actually try to keep riding until there is too much snow on the roads and it gets too sloppy. This means that I have to change the way that I gear up to go out and ride. Spandex is, surprisingly, not exactly the most versatile fabric ever invented. Therefore I tend to wear the following:
When I went out for a ride today, I bundled myself up in all of this so that I could stay comfortable and toasty while out on my bike.
The goggles are essential.
I also filled up my water bottles with piping hot coffee, as well as a shot of Kentucky Bourbon in each for added warmth.
By now i hope you've realized that I'm kidding around (people actually do whisky in the water bottle though). In all seriousness, trying to layer for cycling is much harder than for hiking or other outdoor activities because you can easily overheat on a 20 degree day on a bike. Today the thermometer read "40" so I knew I was still going to sweat a little bit. Here is my actual cold weather kit:
You might think it's crazy to wear regular spandex biking shorts in cold weather, however I have found that the lower half of my body stays pretty warm because my legs are constantly moving. The wool socks are key, and the fleece lined leg warmers are pretty nice as well.
I prefer these leg warmers over knee warmers (which are pretty pointless), and also tights (which are just weird). One of my favorite bloggers, Fat Cyclist, agrees on both counts.
A nice wind-jacket is also essential, but not something too insulated. I can usually wear the jacket that came with my Plattsburgh kit in weather between 50-20 degrees before I need to add another layer underneath.
A winter hat is sometimes useful but I usually just wear a cycling cap. I top it all off with a pair of spring weather snowboarding gloves, which are light and very low profile. When the weather gets colder I usually add either a long sleeve Under Armour shirt under my jersey, a long sleeve jersey, or arm warmers. Shoe covers also keep my toes warm depending on the temperature. As with any type of winter activity, it's important to dress properly so that if something goes wrong, hypothermia or frostbite can be avoided.
It is also good to pretend that you are Andy Hampsten riding through the snow in the '88 Giro d' Italia on his way to victory.
The best thing to do is just get out, pedal hard, and continue to deny that winter is really coming. It helps to turn the Jimmy Buffett back on, ignore the fact that a light snow is falling, and keep on biking until there is so much snow on the ground that you have to just accept it and start skiing.
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