We’re not really supposed to have favorites, but everyone does. Just ask your parents. So while I’m not supposed to have a favorite, I do, and its Rule #9.
Bad weather immediately separates the wheat from the chaff, and so the weekend warriors stay indoors and leave the roads to the devout. I talk most often about riding in the rain, with the drops of water dripping from my cap acting as my personal metronome as I carve a path through the chaos towards a happier self. But sunny days in the cold can provide their own glorious solitude.
On Keepers Tour 2013, we had unseasonably cold weather, and some of the best rides we had were early morning spins before heading off to the races. With the sun hanging low over the horizon, we rode through our frozen breath, together in close formation yet each of us retreating inward as we steeled ourselves against the cold. These were beautiful, peaceful rides.
This winter in Seattle has been relatively dry, but also cold. On the weekends, the country roads are nearly deserted and all that is left is the silent, still air and the burning of cold air as it enters my lungs. On a recent solo ride on Whidbey Island, I spun down the same roads which only a few months earlier I had ridden with friends on the annual Whidbey Island Cogal. The island seems a full place then, now it looked like an entirely different place – empty and beautiful.
There is something about the way the bike handles in the cold. The tires are firmer, the rubber less supple. The connection between bicycle and road seems simultaneously harsher and more fragile than in the warm. The muscles in my arms and hands are also more twitchy in the cold. Not twitchy like I can suddenly sprint; twitchy like I have difficulty controlling what they are doing – where normally I pride myself on holding a clean line, in the cold a small bump in the road might trigger a spasm that sends the bike into a wobble. Its an exciting way to ride.
Quiet roads, a still harbor, an early morning sunrise; these are the gifts reserved for those who ventured out when others stay in. These are the gifts of Rule #9.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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@Optimiste and post a photo of the steed while you're at it...i dont see it gracing the "bikes" pages
@frank Yup, this kid in WI did his first nordic race in 1976: 17k, three laps of a course that included a hilly wooded section as well as a long unprotected uphill finishing straight on a golf course fairway. Air temp -23, later we found out the windchill was -63. Most of us who weren't totally hypothermic were in the mens' room afterwards with hands down pants trying to rewarm parts that were in excruciating pain. Don't think they'd run the race today as most organizers have thresholds for windchill. When I think back on how little clothing we tried to get away with racing -- and even training... wow.
@PeakInTwoYears
To that end, I've been writing for Cyclist since the magazine came out a year and a half ago and only just now realized I should try to promote that fact.
@Optimiste
We are a sad lot, but at least we are a lot.
@teleguy57
Brings a tear to my eye - sentimentally and viscerally. Good to have another Nordie around here, even if I've given up the ghost of Nordic Ski Racing. I do have a new set of gear that I take out on weekends at Stevens Pass when the weather is good. And then I freak out about how much my upper body is bulking up and then I stop helping with the groceries for the next week to bulk back down. Just one gallon of milk at a time, honey! I'm getting too buff!
Wow. Just did a search for "peter heater" thinking I'd get the old windbreaker-lined underoos we used back then, but instead I got a bunch of really disturbing knit penis socks.
@frank
...Or as Marko calls them, condoms.
Time to get serious now, you must be leaving for warm weather training within the next two weeks or else you might as well hang up the bike for another year.
What's the opposite of #9?
Rule #9 weather here in Nashville, Tn today for sure - it was -24°C with the wind chill during the commute this morning. I got an ice cream headache if I rolled above 30kph. It was glorious.
@Barracuda
I don't know, but it doesn't involve a Rule 29 contravention. P.S. Beautiful photo and I hate you a little bit for having good weather.
@frank
The idea of Rule 9 is much more appealing to me than the practice... although, some of my most memorable rides have been in 9 conditions.
@Chris
Yes, that was the morning of the Ronde, the day after we rode Roubaix. So effing cold, so effing brilliant (especially the swearing at Alex for seeking out the worst cobbles in the land and turning a 20km 'recovery' ride into a 45km slog). Damn I'm gonna miss that...
Some more photos from that magical morning:
[dmalbum: path="/velominati.com/wp-content/uploads/readers/brett/2014.01.06.23.05.29/1//"/]
@roger
So as not to hijack this thread, I've posted some pics on The Bikes.