We had a great ride today.  But that’s not what this post is about.  It’s about Darwinism,  sort of.  It’s about etiquette, or more appropriately, expectations on a training ride.  It’s a good story with a happy, albeit unresolved ending, so I invite you to follow along with a positive appreciation for the age-old question, “Do I stay or do I go?”  I am interested in your input and thoughts on the subject. You can post a response below if you want to join in the dialogue.

Riding between fields of snow can be magical if you dress right, but some of you might wondering how anyone can handle a ride at 25F. To help out, I offer my year-round guide for the lycra-perplexed. We go by temperature zone, and it’s all about layers. Layers and layers of layers.

Your zones may vary. Call me a wuss, but I’ve listed the temperatures that I use to determine my clothing choices. If you’re a heat engine you might want to recalibrate, but there has to be some point at which you really will need a good winter jacket, gloves, and bootees. I’ll adjust my zones 5 degrees cooler if it’s sunny. If it’s rainy, all bets are off. The coldest I think I have ever been on a bicycle was going down a French mountain pass at 40F in the rain.

A few of us showed up at the Bakehouse for the first real-winter ride of the year.  The temperature hovered in the 20s even as the clock struck noon.  The wind was slight and out of the south.   At 20 mph the wind chill at 20 correlates to 11 degrees.   But the sun was out, and I was dressed in several layers, “two winter jackets,” as one of my teammates pointed out.  The posted course was dubbed ‘Winter Trifecta’ and has three loops that all point back to town, with its furthest reaches never more than 10 miles from downtown.  I decided to ride to the start, rather than drive, even though today’s published course would take us west then south, further away from home.