Thursday, January 15, 2009

Perfect Weather

It is a beautiful day here, zero, clear, with 6 inches of new snow—perfect for snowshoeing, cross-country skiing...and bicycling to work!

What! I know you think I've lost it, but stop and think about it for a minute. When it is this cold the salt doesn't work, so you don't have a sloppy mess on the roads. Plus, the snow isn't as slippery, so you can go faster without worrying about wiping out.

What about the cold? Actually, once you get riding, it isn't bad. I usually just wear a rain jacket (to block the wind) over my regular work clothes, unless the temperature is above 25, then I just wear a t-shirt. Once it gets below zero, I put on a warm-up jacket and wear biking leggings under my pants. Anytime it is below freezing, I wear mittens to keep my fingers warm.

I am really enjoying being able to ride to work all winter. I used to not be able to ride once it got below 50; I would always get bronchitis. I had bronchitis very badly a couple of years in a row; once you have had it you are more susceptible to it. But, I haven't had bronchitis for about 8 years now, and my body seems to have recovered to the point I'm not getting it anymore.

I do take the precaution of keeping my chest protected from the wind by wearing either a scarf or one of those hoods that comes down over your shoulders. And, when it gets around zero you need to keep your forehead and ears warm. Simple, right?

Anyway, you might think I'm crazy, but when I was looking at the weather for later today I saw this:



Top 10 campground???? Whom do you know that would be camping in -3 weather? They are crazier than I am! Oh, I didn't get a screen shot of this one, but they also had a link to check the mosquito forecast! I can help you with that one—there aren't any at zero :)

3 comments:

Andy said...

Shall I post my pictures of the motorcycle parked next to the 0° bank sign, just to make you look a little more sane? :-)

Peter Kirk said...

Perfect weather for me means 70 to 80 degrees warmer!

But I'm like you used to be with bronchitis, if I even walk outside when it's freezing. Any tips on how to get over this susceptibility?

jps said...

Peter,

What I did was make sure I always wore a scarf around my neck when it got below freezing. That protected by neck and chest from getting cold, which is what was causing my bronchitis. I still got it a few times after that, but it was not as severe. Of course, prayer helps, too :)

James