This has been a cold, cold week in New York City. With the wind chill it's been averaging about 5 degrees. But over the holidays my oh so lovely partner A bought me a new bike for winter (a steel Ritchey Swiss Cross that I had built for me at my local bike shop, Echelon Cycles in the West Village, shout out to Pablo), and of course when you have a new bike you have to ride it. No matter what.
So, on Tuesday I headed out, no idea what the cold was going to feel like, with a goal of doing just one loop of Central Park. Getting dressed for cycling in the cold is a process. Pearl Izumi AmFib tights, another pair of Izumi shorts on top, wool base layer, short sleeve jersey, Giordana FormaRed Carbon jacket, Gore beanie under helmet, lobster gloves, SmartWool socks, Sidi boots, Gore shoe covers, wool neck gaiter.
Within 5 minutes my thumbs were frozen, then my fingers. Then strangely, they got warm. The exposed skin on my face that wasn't covered by wool or sunglasses stung. But I made it to the park, only to realize that the outside of the gaiter was encrusted with ice. I have to admit that I was nervous about what I was doing to my body riding in weather that cold, but I felt okay, even though I knew I couldn't stop because my body temperature would plummet and I would freeze.
There were no other cyclists in the park, only a few runners and tourists, until I neared the hill and saw a woman riding a hybrid with ski pants, ski jacket, wool cap and sneakers. Here I am wearing a thousand dollars worth of cold weather kit and she's pedaling away in whatever she could find in her closet.
It's a pretty great day when the only badasses up to facing a New York City cold snap are two women.
When I got home I was frozen, and had to sit in a hot bath for 20 minutes just to get my temperature back to normal. But it felt good knowing that if I really want to ride, no matter what the temperature happens to be, I can do it.
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