Home > Road Rash > Archives > 2009 > November > 04 > Entry
Cold riding definition changes with location
It’s about to get cold out there. I know, cold is a relative term in Austin. But once your body gets acclimated to the heat in this part of the country, it makes 60 degrees feel like 40. I should know. Where I come from, snow and ice are part of the winter equation and temperatures below freezing are common place.
I lived in that type of climate for 29 years. Yet after only nine years in Austin, I’m not the biggest fan of riding in anything below 50. What a wuss. But riding in gorgeous weather for nine months out of the year will spoil even the most hardened yankee transplant. Not that I’m some pasty yankee, but I know several folks from the upper midwest who now live in Austin and they cannot stand “Texas cold.”
Luckily, it doesn’t take much to make your colder rides comfortable here. Just a couple of layers and gloves with fingers usually make it bearable.
I feel sorry for those poor cyclists in New York, Maine or Ohio. I sometimes think about them when I’m flying down the road on a warm, sunny day in November while they’re dodging ice and freezing their spandex off.
Or worse yet, how about those poor folks in Alaska. Riding up there requires gear, thick coats, adapted materials and an innate craziness that is not included in my DNA. Check this out. …
This is a preview for the film Fat Bike, which follows cyclists Josh Morehouse and Mike Morganson as they train in and around Anchorage, Alaska for the Susitna 100 race.
It looks beautiful, but I’ll take 70 degrees on Brodie Lane any day of the week.
Comments
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By mr. b
November 7, 2009 11:43 AM | Link to this
Surly Pug, great bike for the desert and rocky climates and around town, just don’t expect to go real fast. The extra weight is like a weight training device. I suppose with my logic I could find the benefit of a Huffy
By Doohickie
November 9, 2009 11:27 PM | Link to this
I’ve ridden in temps down to 17 in Fort Worth. I think I can go lower, just haven’t seen them yet.
By Doug
November 10, 2009 8:27 PM | Link to this
Grew up in Anchorage. Rode year round, and saw temperatures down to 40 below once or twice. Riding in it’s not really any big deal.