Childish Again

I have posted in the past about bringing clothing that belonged to my children (socks, underpants) into work instead of my own stuff. Those incidents were accidental. Now I have started taking their stuff on purpose...

 

 

 

 My Left Foot - no, not that My Left Foot; My Left Foot.

 

Allow me to explain. If you have children who play organized soccer, you may well have found yourself with a rather large supply of soccer socks, your children having been issued them in year after year of playing. Strangely, those soccer socks, although intended for the children, are usually big enough to fit me quite nicely. I wear them under my long work pants, of course. They are comfortable, breathe very well and are a nice dark black colour. They even feel good on my legs, like girdles for my calves!

 

Hey, wait just one damn minute... have I started wearing black knee-high support hose? Crap! They're just my kids' soccer socks, dammit! I swear!

 

 

I will not be this now, at the age of 43. No way. Maybe later. Maybe.

 

 

 

Forget that, man. Those socks are going back into the kids' clothes. As far as you know, anyway.

 

 

Yer Pal, R A N T W I C K

Why Am I So Warm?

When I read about what other people wear for cold weather riding, they always seem to be much more heavily dressed than I am. This morning it was -8C on my ride in. I was running late and did not layer up properly and wore what I consider the minimum amount of clothing for such weather. I found that I was pleasantly cool but not cold the whole way in. The thing is, I wasn't wearing that much really:

Body: 1) Cheap old MEC Bike Shorts under 2) MEC Cold Weather pants (neoprene fronts, Lycra backs), 3) a light wicking T-shirt under 4) a scarf to plug the neck hole of 5) an O2 Rainwear cycling jacket with pit zips wide open.

Head: Lightweight balaclava (pulled under chin, face exposed), MX goggles, helmet

Hands: Light Gloves (best used above -10C)

Feet: Regular cotton socks (tsk, tsk) under Exustar E-SM450 Cold Weather Cycling Shoes (not sure if these are available any more).

Do As I Say Not As I Do Disclaimer: I would strongly recommend wearing more stuff than this just for safety. You can remove layers when you're too hot, but you can't add layers you didn't bring in the first place if you are cold. This outfit was perfect because I was able to keep moving. If I had had to stop for any reason along the way or crashed or something, I would have become very cold very fast.

So anyway, I've been thinking about the differences I see between how much stuff I wear compared to others and have four possible reasons for how little I wear:

1) Noggin/Eyes Covered: Once your head is covered, staying warm is simply quite easy. Or maybe humans lose a whole ton of heat from their eyes, which my goggles retain for me. Anyone? Anyone?

2) Blubber: At 5'11" and about 210 pounds, I carry a built in insulating layer.

3) Distance: My winter commute is only 7km (4.3 miles) one way. If I rode much further most of me would be fine, but I know that my feet and hands could begin to suffer past that distance in these clothes.

4) Lateness: I am almost always late. That means riding hard, which means loads of heat generation. If I tried a leisurely commute in this outfit, I would very likely feel chilled.

Any other theories or guesses or insults? Bring 'em on! I like it.

R A N T W I C K