Rides, Free-Riders

I realized (in response to a question) I had not mentioned any of my recent rides on the blog.  Not that this is tremendously exciting stuff, but it is possible to ride more or less year round here – you just need to have the right gear.  I often have the wrong gear. 

When you ride in winter you add on about (depending on average speed) 14-20something) mph of windchill.  That means you have to be very careful with your toes, fingers, nose/face, ears and genitals (pay attention guys).  Most summer biking gear is designed to breathe.  In the winter, that’s not bad to a certain point, but it becomes dangerous when you get into frostbite territory. 

Scoplaw gear modifications for winter riding:  get yourself a wind breaking jacket, preferably with armpit/back vents.  Your torso produces a lot of heat and sweat.  You don’t want to have too much layering there.  Conversely, you want your hands in thick ski-gloves and your feet/toes in windbreaking shoes.  Personally I cheat on the shoes by using my summer (vented) shoes, but by wearing two pairs of socks with a layer of saran-wrap between the two socks (toes and top of foot only).  Sounds silly, but it works perfectly – warm but not sweaty.  The legs fall into a middle ground – commercial winter bicycle leggings are the way to go, but it’s best to be safe and wear something extra between your legs.  There’s no need to go overboard, but you want to make sure you have enough layers so the wind does not cut through.  The head is also something of a middle ground.  It, overall, produces a lot of heat and sweat – if you wore a wool hat you’d heat up too quickly.  On the other hand if you go bare you’ll hurt your ears, nose, lips, and cheeks.  Generally I use a headband for my ears and lots of chapstick.  Depending on the terrain, I usually keep the helmet on (more on that later).  When it gets really cold (say in the 20s before windchill) I’ve got an old thin wool scarf that I wrap around my neck and face to protect my nose.

Basically, with the exception of your extremities, you just want to create a thin layer to hold in the body heat a bit longer than you normally would.  If you step outside, hop on the bike, and you’re warm, that’s no good.  You’ll get too hot on the ride.   

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So I’ve been going on daily/every-other-day rides, generally shot – 10 miles or so.  I’ve also been eating like a fiend.  I do this every now and then.  I just get hungry and can’t stop eating all day long.  This is very problematic since it coincides with my purchasing a bunch of fatty foods (ice-cream, cheese, chocolate, pesto).   Also, there’s been easy access to free cookies, donuts, muffins.  I’m so so bad on pastry.

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In other matters though I’m feeling fairly clear and strong.  I think that sometimes when I’m balancing a network of close friends with divergent wants and interests, I let myself get burned too often, as everything becomes a big fuzzy mess of possibilities, unsure motivations, possible desired outcomes (or avoided outcomes) justifying behavior.  I bend too much, I’m understanding when I perhaps should not be.  Or perhaps I allow myself a certain level of temptation because I simply like people.  This ties in with the whole fuzzy conversation Charlsie and I have been having.

However, when I’m feeling somewhat isolated, everything gets very clear.  I put up with less bullshit from people. 

Time to let people who are only interested in what I can do for them go.  Time to also let the pastries go.