Decrepit Old Fool

I noticed this van parked on Normal Avenue while riding home from work this evening:

We have some heroically hard-core bikers on campus, riding minimalist track-bike style custom jobs with sew-up tires.  I go the luxury route, riding a mountain bike with 21 gears, KoolStop brake pads, extra-strength wheels, front shocks and fat tires.  It’s the bicycle equivalent of an SUV.  Since it’s often dark in the winter, my bike lights up like a UFO with LED taillight and headlight, and fully DOT-tape reflectorized, even the hubs and wheels.  One of my sons pointed out that while the illumination scheme protects me from the accidental collision, it’s easier targetting for those who are trying to hit me.

Anyway, bicycling in very cold weather requires some strategizing against the freezing of one’s ass.  Every cold-weather rider has their own coping mechanisms.  You won’t see many heavy winter coats; more likely windbreakers with layers.  I’ve even seen guys in Spandex well below zero.  Oversize helmets make room for stocking caps or hoods.  Gloves are an individual matter, ranging from ski gloves to thin high-tech materials.  There are lots of different kinds of face masks, which is in indication that none of them is perfect.

I’m a bit of a wimp; when the temperature drops to single digits and the wind picks up, my own kit is significant armor.  I wear a thin cotton jacket with a windbreaker shell, the hood pulled up over my stocking cap and a pair of ski goggles capped with a helmet. If that doesn’t sound like much, a 100kg person generates a lot of heat riding a bike.  My gloves are a pair of cotton glove liners in cheap cotton gloves, which works surprisingly well for under three bucks.

One thing I don’t do is listen to an iPod while I’m riding.  My hearing’s bad enough and the approach of a nearby truck is the sort of detail I prefer not to be surprised by. I also leave the bike at home when the streets are icy.  When they come up with a tire that really grips ice, I’ll ride on ice.

Another thing I noticed this evening is that when you ride across the Quad you needn’t stick to the sidewalks in cold weather.  Nobody’s out playing flag football and the frozen ground offers little rolling resistance.

Notes and links:

• I don’t expect to save the world by riding my bike; it’s more of an accommodation to my low boredom threshold.

• The van owner is right that riding a bike is environmentally better than driving a car, though.  Every little bit helps. Big bits help too: there’s a really big environmental bang for the buck to be had from shelling out for protection and restoration of tropical rain forests.  It might be much more cost-effective than some of the fancier carbon-sequestration schemes out there