Posts Tagged ‘winter’

This was only my second winter in Memphis but it seemed long. I rode through the cold, wind, cold and rain and a couple times, through the ice and snow on the sidewalks I ride next to a busy road. Today, I finally road both to and from work in shorts and T-shirt. Strangely, this week I both road in shorts and T-shirt and on snowed- and iced-sidewalks. Such is the weather in Memphis.

My lowest temperature ride this winter was 12^oF. Not exactly eye-brow raising for northern bike commuters, but very respectable for us southerners. Certainly, the undesirable vehicle commuters were somewhat shocked. They suffered on the way from their vehicle to the door. I told them I still worked up a sweat on my way to work.

Last fall, I converted my Schwinn Homegrown from a nine-speed to a single speed (no, it’s not a fixie, I’m not that cool). After six months on the uni-speed, my legs hurt. While I seemed to get tired riding a multi-speed, I didn’t have constant pain in my thighs. I do now. I don’t care really though. Sometimes, when I flex my thighs I get a really good buzz – from the pain and fatigue radiating from my thighs. Seems weird but I like it. I tried massages for a few days but I didn’t feel much difference. Now, on days when the thighs hurt bad, I use the hammies the entire way.

This winter I learned reasonably well how to do track stands at stoplights. It helps that I’m on a mountain bike with fatties but I’m still happy I can do it. It’s not easy to find an appropriate place at every stoplight that provides a little roll-back so I can shift the bike beneath me. At least I don’t almost fall over while trying it like I did before. I found that practicing without clipless peddles helps a lot.

I also learned this winter that I don’t have to shower just before I walk into work. A friend, who rode with me a few times in the fall, didn’t belong to the gym I belong to which is close to work. So, naturally he couldn’t shower before he dressed for work. I took the same approach the entire winter. I usually shower the night before or in the morning before I start. Then, I do a quick sponge bath in the work bathroom before I change in one of the stalls. Seems to work well and I don’t notice that I stink. At least no one has told me that I do.

All and all it was a good winter of riding. At least I’m not taking the bus like I did last year. I didn’t feel much on those trips. I’ll take another long winter anytime. It’s definitely biking with a feel.

We all know that Indian summer is a name given to a period of sunny, warm weather in autumn, not long before winter, usually occurring after the first frost.  And we know that spring begins on the Vernal Equinox (March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere).  Spring is usually the season I start road bike riding again.  That’s not to say I have not logged miles, but I am tired of pent-up stationary bike miles the winter demands.  This past weekend’s weather made me think we need to come up with a phrase that accurately describes a premature summer.  The weather in Memphis was so good on Saturday that I cleaned and lubed my road bike and Sunday I went for the first ride since October.  What words can I use to describe the first ride of the season?  Maybe it’s like a human thermostat?  In a vehicle a thermostat stops the flow of coolant (antifreeze) until the temperature rises to a predetermined threshold.  Once the threshold is met coolant flows freely.  Mounting the bike for the first ride of the season gives you a sense of flowing freedom.  However, I think the word that most accurately describes it is “Ouch!”  I was sore Monday.  All of that pent-up riding was released on the road; the road lost Sunday because it was a great day for a great ride.  Then came Monday morning when you ask yourself, “What have I done?”  It hurt so good.  As the weather breaks and more weekend riders hit the road, let’s try to pace ourselves. We have all season to beat that road!  Hope to see you soon…on the road.

It’s days like today that I get that question 5 or 6 times. It’s as if something may have changed between the last time that I rode to work when it was raining and 34 degrees and now. I suppose I should be asking in response, “Did you drive your car again today?!” – a legitimate question given global warming and pollution today.

Yes, riding on days like today can be a struggle. It’s not so much the rain or the wind or the temperature. I think it’s more of the mood that the environment sets as a whole. It makes you just want to stay in bed.

After a few miles on the bike I forget about being hesitant to ride and begin to feel constrained and too warm in my cycling clothing. Getting into a rhythm, I unzip a bit and feel the rain and cold on my neck and chest. It feels good that the rain and cold feel good.

Two miles from work, I hear my brake rubbing. That’s unusual. I touch the front brake several times. Nope, that’s air leaking from the front tire. I pull over at a convenience store and begin the task of replacing the punctured tube – the result of another broken beer bottle. People come and go, looking curiously at me as they pass. No one says anything; strange for Memphis but it’s still dark and this isn’t the best part of town.

I fix the flat and ease back onto the road. As I stop at the light a van pulls up close to me and budges in front. I look at the passenger window for a sign of a confrontation. Instead, a school girl, aged 13 to 14 I guess, smiles honestly and warmly and gives me a wave. The stoplight changes and we move off.

Did I ride today? Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

January 14, 2009
Weathering the Storm
After a few weeks off the bike, Liz returned to riding to work on a day filled with snow, sleet and slush. Read about how she toughed it out.

By Liz DiFebo

Winter weather has set in hard in southeastern Pennsylvania, with its grab bag of rain, ice, wind, stretches of freezing days and sprinklings of unnaturally warm days that give everyone head colds and confuse plants and birds. It was really, I thought, the perfect time of year for my lock to break. As I waited to cash in on its lifetime warranty, my commute turned mainly into a combination of walking and taking the bus, as well as a few rides from my husband and friends. I’d come home and growl as days passed without finding a replacement waiting for me in our mail. Meanwhile, the weather grew more unpredictable, and I began to wonder if I’d even want to start riding again when my lock was returned.

But the day it appeared on my doorstep, there wasn’t even a question as to how I was getting to work the next morning. You know how sometimes you or your significant other goes on a trip and for like a day or two you’re kind of loving your freedom and having your space to yourself, and then it kind of gets boring and lonely, and then when they come back you totally forget that they always leave their socks on the living room floor and they’re just the most beautiful awesome person in the world again, just like they were when you first met? It was totally like that. The forecast for the next day was wretched, but when I walked outside that gray, dreary morning, I hopped on without a second thought.

I headed out in rain and returned home in sleet. I arrived at work with ridiculous helmet hair, and left with wet heavy sort-of-snow clinging to my coat. It was disgusting, cold, uncomfortable–and thoroughly enjoyable.

I rode from work to the gym, to a fast-paced yoga class that thawed me out and warmed me up for the remainder of the ride home. As I stood in the gym lobby after class, arranging my mat on my backpack and untangling my helmet, my yoga teacher looked outside and said, “I feel bad that you have to ride in this.” I replied that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed, and then realized that I didn’t HAVE to ride in it at all…it was a choice. An odd choice, maybe, but a choice I’ve rarely regretted.

Since then, there have been quite a few mornings where the absolute grossness of what was going on outside should have convinced me to use the bus, but I’ve found that on those mornings, the ride can be even more satisfying. I feel almost like I’ve accomplished something (I’m not sure what exactly, but I just go with it) and it makes me feel a little stronger, a little tougher and definitely a little happier.

Check out Bicycling’s Winter Gear slideshow so you can ride all season long, just like Liz.

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