Tales from the early days

Like an old man on the porch outside the general store, I’ve been reminiscing about my early days of bicycling, before I knew what I was doing, before I considered myself a bicyclist. Each of my stories has a moral.

11. My first winter

The first winter I biked, I wore a winter coat and a hat. I wrapped 2 scarves around my head. I wrapped the first one tightly around my ears and face. The second one went over that but tucked into my coat. The helmet held it all in place. I pushed the first scarf under my mouth so I could breathe, but then I couldn’t push it back up when my face got cold without getting off my bike and re-wrapping both scarves.

Eventually my dad gave me a balaclava he’d found lying on the ground in a parking lot. That made all the difference.

The coldest bit was going DOWN that hill that I’d griped so much about climbing UP. In the winter, I didn’t mind going up hills as much. At least I could get warm.

My coat was, if anything, too warm, yet at the same time let the cold wind in. It was the same coat that had padded my pregnant self in college the day my bike slipped on the ice.

My fingers still swelled up in the cold, an effect left over from the frostbite in college, and I was desperate to keep them warm. I put on as many gloves and mittens as I could fit. I hated spending money on my bicycling, because that took away from my pleasure of saving money by bicycling. I picked up a pair of cheap but thick gloves at Walmart. Nothing kept out the wind chill. Finally, I spent $50 on a pair of ski gloves and considered it a worthwhile investment.

Since I am still wearing those gloves today, 10 years later, I’d say it was an excellent investment. Also, my fingers no longer swell up in the cold.

I put on extra pairs of socks under my shoes. That turned out to be a mistake because the shoes weren’t big enough to accommodate all the socks. The layers cut off my circulation and my feet were colder than ever! Instead, plastic grocery sacks over my socks add considerable warmth without cutting off circulation.

It bothered me to no end to spend $70 on something that had the word “undershirt” in its label! It was merino wool and I still wear it as my base layer. I spent $200 on a rain jacket and $200 on rain pants. They are my outer shell in cold weather, as well as raingear in wet weather. My entire outfit cost as much as my bicycle. Nowadays, money isn’t so tight, and having saved $90,000 over 10 years by simply not owning a 2nd car means I’m ok with spending a couple hundred dollars here and there to be comfortable.

The moral of this story is that the right clothes make all the difference for winter cycling.