some notes on the end of winter cycling
Mar 19th, 20113 comments
- When you need to ride in your work clothes, there is a very brief interval between the time when you're still chilly with long underwear under your trousers and rain pants on top, and the time when it's too hot to ride in long trousers at all. So far this year that interval was basically Wednesday.
- While it's nice to see more folks out on their bikes with the nicer weather, I kind of miss the cold-weather camaraderie of feeling like you could nod to every other cyclist you saw. The small-town feel is gone.
- I'm also already starting to get annoyed with other cyclists. Like, the two guys in racing gear riding next to each other: would it be possible for you to do that while staying in your lane? It's not like the bike path is particularly narrow; you've got a good four feet now that the snow is mostly gone. If Leah and I can manage to ride abreast in the lane—while I'm pulling the trailer, no less!—then so can you. Think of it as practice for the peloton!
- Having basically one gear and iffy brakes worked for the winter. But now I want to be able to go faster and, connected to that, to be able to stop when stopping is called for. Some long-deferred maintenance is clearly necessary.
- I need a sign that says, "I was riding all winter—were you?". Otherwise how will people know that I'm hard-core?
comments
I'm impressed so many people ride bikes out there. We hardly see any bicyclists around here and we have really nice weather 10 months out of the year. It sounds like there are a lot of hard core people out there, but no one is as hard core as you Dan.
on your last point, it's something like the shirts some Harvard kids used to wear when walking through the Yard during Summer School: "I go here in the winter"
Hehe, thanks Theresa! I'm glad you recognize that even if I don't have a sign (or a t-shirt).