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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@strathlubnaig
Portland is probably like a lot of other rainy places where the use of "mudguards (or fenders)" is a hotly debated topic. Showing up for a group ride without any means you'll be relegated to the back of the bunch for the entire ride, and probably bitched at because you're also not doing your fair share of the work on the front by said relegation. So you lose either way. Or you ride alone. But here's a handy guide that's been going around locally:
Negative 20 in Fond du Lac, WI this morning. We now own an old (very old) house with all the pleasures that come with it. So, instead of riding the trainer for an hour in my 35 degree basement as planned, I spent that time defrosting the kitchen pipes with a cup of coffee in one hand and a hair dryer in the other.
Whoops, just saw the note re: metric, and of course you are right. That would be negative 29 C outside, and 2 C in my basement.
Sunday's club run was at best 50/50 on mudguards so I'm with @frank and his "get yet ye to the front and work if you don't like it" dictum.
If everybody turned up with them I'd have to rethink it. My membership, not mudguards.
@ChrisO
I'm sure you are very familiar with wet weather riding especially judging by the recent cogal report! I'm not moaning about other people's mudguards, simply stating that I think it's good manners to ride with functional ones some of the time. @scaler911's post reinforces the unwritten rules of many cycling clubs that mudguards should be used in the rain. I don't like spending my whole time on the back of the bunch in training either. This is good justification for another bike as I can't bring myself to put a fender on number 1!
@scaler911
Thanks for the illustration. I wonder what @strathlubnaig's fender would be called?
@Chris
Not wanting to flog dead horse on this, but the mudguard etiquette I'm talking about was Scotland in the late 70s/80s. Fall/Winter/Spring the roads were rarely dry but the temps generally rideable. There were no wee clip of/off mudguards back then, just the "take an hour or more to put on properly" type. Most serious guys had a winter bike that by default had guards. If nothing else, they kept you drier - and remember this was in the age of wool clothing and crappy vinyl overshoes. Riders without guards on a wet day were generally cussed out as was appropriate. Also, it was standard to set a steady paceline of everyone taking their turn at the front with the cry of "spell up." Decorum and manners were de rigeur. No habbling except the last few miles home. No attacking for the sake of it - there were winter off-season rides FFS. What you did solo was your business, but group rides had rules. And Rules were to be followed as we all know and appreciate.
@The Oracle
Need to get you and Teleguy57 on a cogal this year. I've found some new roads that are great.
@unversio
I was asking for a friend. Here's his Facebook post: Still riding my bike to work today, in a full suit, despite it being 6 F (-14 C), with the wind chill at -9 F (-22 C), because being on my bike is still better than getting on the metro or dealing with parking. Don't worry mom; I'll be bundled up on top of the suit.
@wiscot Possibly it's down to previous lives playing rugby and riding mountain bikes but I don't have a problem with a wee bit o' shite from the wheel in front. Granted, I might feel differently if I had to do it in '70s kit.
There are a whole range of other issues of rules, skill and etiquette I'd rather my fellow club sorted before worrying about whether I'm comfy or not.
Out of interest, what is "habbling"?
@Chris
"Habbling" was what happened once about half or 3/5th of the ride was done as a group and it was every-man-for-themselves home. Another rule that was in force (and much neglected here I'm afraid) was the call out potholes with cries of "inside, middle or right" as appropriate. Good manners and a courtesy to fellow riders behind who might be unsighted - possibly by shite from an unguarded rear wheel.