Tuesday 20 November 2012

On biking in cold weather

The weather is getting colder, as is normal for this time of year. Once again, I am asked if I am still biking. The stock answer to this question is: "I bike until it snows." In truth, there comes a time when I start wishing it would snow so I don't have to bike! While it hasn't snowed yet in Montreal, I am frequently riding in sub-zero temperatures which affect more than I sometimes notice.

Take today, for instance. My plan was to ride downtown from work, stop at a drugstore, find some supper and go to HMV. When I my bowl of wonton soup arrived at the Wok Café, I dove into it with a relish that surprised me. Boy! was that soup nice and hot after being outside. I went through the General Tao chicken in record time for me which only reinforced my suspicion of being famished by the exercise in the cold.

After doing some work related shopping at HMV, I came home and wrote the previous post. It was only as I started this post that I remembered that I had forgotten to stop at the pharmacy!

All this to say that there are limits to how much cold weather biking I can withstand. For that matter, there are probably limits on how much cold weather biking anyone can withstand. I am increasingly of the opinion that the acquaintance of Margo's who is trying to ride to Tuktoyatuk in winter has got a kangaroo loose in the top paddock! (And I mean that in the nicest possible way!)

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