Cycling through the winter

When I tell people that I cycle year round in ALL weather they are most amazed that I’ll ride all winter. For me the most difficult time of year is really the summer. I can only take so many clothes off, but in the Winter I can layer up.

Last winter I created a mental chart in my head. This consisted of a temperature range with specific clothing next to each range. This system worked well. I’d just need to look up the current temp then dress accordingly.

Unfortunately I never wrote any of this down. Therefore this year I will be creating my system all over again and sharing that system with the readers. As it gets colder I’ll be adding more posts.

The first one will be coming within the week. This will cover from about 35F to 50F

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Life is Short

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Practical Accessories @ LBS

This weekend I was determined to replace my 18 year old cycling specific all weather jacket. I was looking for something that fit trim with a shirt plus fleece, simple, packs small and breathes well. Specifically I was looking for something made from Gore Active Shell. Both bike shops had nice performance oriented cold weather gear, but this was won’t keep me dry.

Neither the employee only Gore Store nor both local bike shops had any selection of any all weather cycling specific gear.

The other thing I was looking for was a high end u-lock to replace my aging and failing lock. Neither bike shop stocked those either. 🙁

A plea to the local bike shops out there. Lets get some quality high end utility cycling gear. I’d much rather buy from you than save a little buying from the Internet. The value this brings is that now I’ll order a bunch of stuff, but have to keep sending it back and forth until I find a size that fits. There is value to the LBS, but only if you stock the things we need.

Maybe I spoke too soon.

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Flats

On Friday (probably Thursday really) I got my 3rd flat in 12 months. Besides mountain biking I don’t think I have gotten 3 flats in my entire life.

One of the flats was a piece of glass which barely poked into the tube, but nicked it nonetheless. The other two were tiny little wires that stuck through the tire into the tube. I’ve no idea where these little wires really come from.

Lets hope for no more little wires.

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Bike Maintenance

Friday morning rolled around and I realized that my Brompton had a rear tire flat. I typically have my normal commuter ready to go as a spare. Not today, it was partially apart in the middle of a parts swap between that bike and the metrofiets.

The metrofiets was out of commission due to an issue I’ll talk about in a later post.

My mountain bike would never have gotten me to the station in time, it is geared way to low.

Luckily Elie had woken up early, so I was able to bum a ride with her on the way to breakfast.

Moral of this story is to keep your bikes maintained. Keep them in running order and clean. It really only takes about 15 to 30 minutes per week, but if done will regularly will keep you moving.

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