It was 24Fdeg out and I had an errand to do, so I threw on my superduper patented winter riding jacket and had a lovely, sunny hour of riding. I was on dirt roads half the time—they were cushy with the 35mm wide tires at 55psi mounted on the mighty Paramount. I used longjohns and overbooties over bike shoes. I wore a couple other wool layers under the coat to dial in to this chill level. Everything worked perfect and I was cozy.
[Check out the reposting of the 10-yr-old story about how the jacket came to be.]
Ya know, it’s a great riding jacket. You just sew canvas over the front of a heavy wool jacket, then slice the pits and vent the back and you have a winter riding jacket that cuts the wind but never sweats up. I suppose one could come up with a more coordinated combo of colors, but it’s fine for me.
Martha has been riding for errands whenever possible this winter. I’ve gotten out a few times. I prefer allbody ski action whenever there’s snow. But today I had the errand and I skied pretty hard yesterday and the snow is lame anyway—we just got a concealing dusting over occasional patches of crust on a shady golf course—a very nice hilly place, but sheesh, I don’t want to hit grass—so I bundled up and did a ride!
