nessus@nsc.UUCP (Kchula-Rrit) (01/11/85)
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This was posted to net.cycle by mistake. My apologies to net.cycle.
In 1973-74 I used to ride my bicycle everywhere I went in the St. Paul-
Minneapolis area. The areas I used to ride in were often very open and WINDY.
with temps in the +10 to -30 degree range not including wind-chill. Yes, I
did get ODD looks when I rode to work in January. Anyway, here is my story...
The bike I had was a 10-speed steel-framed american-made touring bike.
To solve the wind problem, I attached a transparent umbrella to front of the
bike frame, so it wouldn't turn the wheel in the wind. If the temp was below
zero and the wind was blowing, I would open the umbrella and crouch down behind
it, looking through it to navigate. For clothing, I wore my parka, with the
hood tied tight around my head, but not tight enough to restrict movement.
There was >1 hat on my head, a scarf around my neck, tucked into the parka to
keep the wind out and to keep the scarf from getting caught in anything. For
the torso, I wore a sweater, sweat-shirt, or lighter jacket/coat. On my legs I
wore thermal underwear or >1 pair of pants. My feet were covered with >2 pairs
of socks, covered by shoes and heavy rubber boots. >1 set of gloves or "snow-
mobile"-type mittens covered. I NEVER wore gloves(the kind with 5 fingers),
always mittens. By the time I got to work, a ~45-60 minute ride, I was usually
perspiring.
It was a lot of fun overall; error(wipeout) recovery was almost always
a trivial matter because of the heavy padding of the above. I never had to
challenge a motor vehicle, however. To make emergency stops it was a {usually}
simple matter of riding into a snowbank. I never used any toe clips because
they could have injured me in a fall; also the bike didn't have them.
Hope this helps
Kchula-Rrit
P.S. Also, I forgot: YES, my mother(and everyone else) thought I was crazy.