testing my cold weather gear while biking
Today I biked around town running some errands and testing out my new Polartec fleece + windproof shell combo that I got at Christmas. It did indeed keep my torso nice and warm -- very exciting! My legs stayed warm, too, with my fleece-lined jeans under my windproof pants.
However, after it got dark and even colder, I was pretty sure my hands were doomed. My fingers were hurting, even through two pairs of gloves. So on my way back from the grocery store, I stopped at the bike shop and bought $65 supergloves. I grumbled at the price a bit, but they're seriously warm, and I was seriously worried about my fingers falling off on the way home before I got them. They kept me nice and toasty the rest of the way home.
This was at 24 degrees, without too much wind. We'll see how things go when temperatures drop. I'm hoping I can wear really thick socks and not have to get protective booties to go over my shoes (I have normal boots, not bike clip shoes). Also, my balaclava is very helpful, but I'm going to need something more on my face as it gets colder, I think. And I need to cover up my nose, which I've been leaving outside the balaclava because otherwise my glasses fog up. I need to go get some defogging stuff.
I should also probably practice skidding on ice sometime on my bike. The bike lanes were pretty clear, but there's still some ice around.
Biking in winter kinda sucks. But on some meta level I'm enjoying the craziness of being out on the road on a freezing piece of metal even in stupidly bad weather. I think it's in part because it's (hopefully) my last winter here, so I might as well go out and be nuts.
However, after it got dark and even colder, I was pretty sure my hands were doomed. My fingers were hurting, even through two pairs of gloves. So on my way back from the grocery store, I stopped at the bike shop and bought $65 supergloves. I grumbled at the price a bit, but they're seriously warm, and I was seriously worried about my fingers falling off on the way home before I got them. They kept me nice and toasty the rest of the way home.
This was at 24 degrees, without too much wind. We'll see how things go when temperatures drop. I'm hoping I can wear really thick socks and not have to get protective booties to go over my shoes (I have normal boots, not bike clip shoes). Also, my balaclava is very helpful, but I'm going to need something more on my face as it gets colder, I think. And I need to cover up my nose, which I've been leaving outside the balaclava because otherwise my glasses fog up. I need to go get some defogging stuff.
I should also probably practice skidding on ice sometime on my bike. The bike lanes were pretty clear, but there's still some ice around.
Biking in winter kinda sucks. But on some meta level I'm enjoying the craziness of being out on the road on a freezing piece of metal even in stupidly bad weather. I think it's in part because it's (hopefully) my last winter here, so I might as well go out and be nuts.