Cold

As much as I dislike riding in the cold I dislike getting a cold more. I haven't had one for years but I got a whopper a few weeks back. Kicked my butt good. Don't know if it was flu or even if it's flu season. Then we had snow and by the time I felt like riding again it's all icy and crap and I'm finding it difficult to get going.

That's a picture of a big snow storm. If I showed the snow we had that kept me from riding I'd be admitting to wussing and that's not happenin'.

I know there's folks out there that will take that kind of down time and read up on quantum mechanics and other quality pursuits but I'm a country boy and spent most of my time watching YouTube and iJustine and lousy action movies on Netflix, browsing the web and doing my yearly winter site search for the best way to ride in the cold.

A well prepared rider.

There are many reasons to dislike winter riding but co-workers snide remarks are near the top. Every time someone asks "did you ride today" there's the unspoken "you moron" at the end. They really want to say it but a sense of propriety keeps it in check. 

There's never a problem of warmth as there's plenty of heat from the toes up, the problem is always the fingers. The palms rest on the handle bars and cut off the blood flow and those digits are just sittin' out there waiting to turn black. I've tried about every glove there is and found the lobster style works best for me.

My current glove, the Pearl Izumi lobster glove.

The other option when riding in below freezing weather is to not wear head covering, just the helmet. This allows the brain to freeze and then you don't much care what the heck the temp is. Try it. You'll roll along thinking "Dude, this is like a totally awesome day!". A cold brain is a numb brain and a numb brain is a happy brain.