mink@cfa.UUCP (Doug Mink) (01/15/86)
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The following is from "The Boston Cyclist" and is Copyright 1986 by the
Boston Area Bicycle Coalition. It is reprinted with permission.
The Joy of Snow
by Doug Mink
When ice and snow start to coat the landscape and the
mercury dips below freezing, many bicyclists put their bikes
away to await what they call "bicycling season." But some
of the finest riding of the year occurs in what many deem to
be uncyclable conditions. Fresh snow muffles the normal
racket of a traffic-filled street as well as keeping many
cars snug at home in their garages. The still air, the
white-shrouded landscape, and the empty streets provide a
peak experience for any cyclist willing to venture from the
warmth of the hearth. It is closest to the feeling you get
when walking on the needle-covered floor of a pine forest.
Until the snow gets packed into ice, 1-1/4-inch tires track
surprisingly well; wide mountain bike tires tend to ride up
on the snow and lose traction. As for safety, the streets
get plowed before the sidewalks do, and the snow slows down
the cars to normal bicycling speed.
Prudent clothing will keep the cold ouside, where it
belongs. An inner lining of polypropylene or silk from head
to toe, to wick away perspiration before it gets cold,
covered by a layer of wool for insulation, covered by a
windbreaker, with wind-proof pants if it's very cold, do the
job. Wool socks over polypropylene liners inside regular
running shoes keep my feet warm down past 20 Fahrenheit; if
it gets colder, I wear hiking boots or cross-country ski
boots. Hands are first protected from the heat-draining
metal of the handlebars by Grab-Ons, then put into something
windproof and incompressible like Thinsulate-lined leather
gloves. When it's down near zero, I cover my face with ski
goggles and a disposable painter's mask, which fit snug up
against the parka hood or stocking cap I wear under a pad-
less Bell helmet. It looks Darth-Vaderesque, but it's warm.
One of the first things you notice riding when it's
really cold is that uphill routes, where the excess heat
your muscles produce finds its way as far as your fingers
and toes, are preferable to downhill ones, and that riding
fast helps, too. Minimize exposed skin, and the inevitable
headwinds won't be any worse than they are in the spring or
fall. Riding in the winter is practical and can even be a
pleasant experience, if one is properly prepared.
[It's supposed to 0-5F tonight and I'm riding home (3 miles)]
[I compose "The Boston Cyclist" using troff on this computer.
It's 8 dense pages every two months, and the two articles I posted
today are more or less typical of its content, at least of the part
that I write. I have the past 6 issues on the system and can extract
more articles if net.bicycle readers are interested. Let me know what
you think.]
Doug Mink
UUCP: mink@cfa.UUCP or {seismo|ihnp4|cmc12}!harvard!talcott!cfa!mink
ARPA: mink%cfa@harvard.ARPA