Brr

All that delightful, if unseasonable, weather we've had was wiped from my mind today. I looked out the window and saw bright sunshine and resolved to ride the velo in to campus for a panel on professionalization. I'm still nervous about riding in the dark, so I try to limit campus trips to times when I know I won't be trapped there beyond sun down.

Not only do I have to keep topography in mind, but I guess I ought to look more closely at the weather. I checked and it said WINDY and 40 degrees. Well, that's nothing like 70, sure, but the velo's nearly all enclosed and quite aerodynamic, so I figured I'd be fine. When I left my apartment to walk to the velo's house, I quickly congratulated myself on packing gloves, a scarf, and hat. But I still talked myself into going and getting into the trike and riding my butt to campus.

Well, I can say this: my calves and upper body were warm. I find that even in warm weather my feet sometimes get a bit tingly from elevation, and coupled with coldness and the blood hanging out in my leg muscles, they were quite tingly today. And then there's my face. Talk about cold. When you get going 25-30 mph, you generate a fair amount of wind. When there's already an icy wind, that gets quite frigid. Oh, sure, the velo has a spiffy little roof and windscreen. I've only tried to ride with it on once though, and it presents two problems: 1) claustrophobia and 2) no hand signaling. I imagine with time I could get used to being cozied up in that small space, especially since I know I'm "trapped" by nothing more than velcro, but the hand signals seem important to me. Even if the drivers around me don't always understand/pay attention, I like to at least try to let them know what I'm up to.

So, some goals for cold-weather riding: neoprene booties, a balaclava, and/or learning some basic electronics so I can rig up some turn signals. That seems like it would be a good idea regardless.

Sorry for all the pictureless posts. I know they're less exciting, but taking photos of oneself in a velomobile is no easy task and I'm shy about asking random people to join me in the photog frenzy.