Tuesday morning could be coldest day in D.C. in 20 years

[PotomacCyclist]

Wind chill as low as -15F, and that’s if you’re standing still, not riding a bike.

A few hardy souls might be cycling on Tuesday, but I seriously doubt I’ll be riding outside that morning. If I do any bike-related activity, it will be on a spin bike, preferably while watching one of the good James Bond movies.

Topic

[TwoWheelsDC]

I’ll probably charge the battery of my heated vest and keep that in my pannier, along with my way-too-warm-for-above-zero-conditions snowboarding gloves, and some chemical warmers. I also broke out the ski goggles and insulated overpants (which are actually just the liners from my old winter motorcycle pants). For my 30 minute commute, I’m more concerned about exposed skin than absolute warmth, but of course I want to make sure I’m prepared if I have a mechanical issue.

[KelOnWheels]

@Rootchopper 73724 wrote:

I’m not riding tomorrow either. 15 miles into a stiff headwind at 8 degrees is a recipe for a trip to the ER.

My feet would freeze off. I need winter riding boots.

[KelOnWheels]

“An air temperature in the single digits with sustained windspeed of 15mph can mean it can feel like -20 degrees to you. Frostbite can occur to any exposed skin in less than 30 minutes with wind chills in the -20 degree range.”

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4423[/ATTACH]

[Geoff]

@rcannon100 73694 wrote:

Please dont be silly about this. It is not worth it.

Glad someone said this.
I’m a northern country boy and take some pride in being able to handle the cold, but I don’t need to prove anything. I don’t need my brakes to fail, don’t need to wipe out on an icy patch, or have a collision with someone else who hit a bad spot.

I’ll walk to the subway tomorrow. That’ll be enough, methinks.

[Riley Casey]

I have a three mile commute and expect I could do it in shorts and a T shirt without permanent injury. Certainly some commuters on the forum have epic journeys from the far reaches of the area but most of us are probably no further than a few hundred yards at any given point during our morning rides from hot coffee. Not sure this one day cold snap in the urban heat island of metro DC is a life safety issue for most of us. I could be wrong, often am – find out tomorrow though.

@rcannon100 73694 wrote:

If you lack proper gear and proper experience, DONT RIDE TOMORROW!

[FFX_Hinterlands]

@jopamora 73692 wrote:

Before I even sat down at my desk, four co-workers asked if I was going to ride in tomorrow. Great, they all think I am even crazier now.

Same here. They ask when it is raining cats and dogs, too.

[dbb]

@KelOnWheels 73729 wrote:

“An air temperature in the single digits with sustained windspeed of 15mph can mean it can feel like -20 degrees to you. Frostbite can occur to any exposed skin in less than 30 minutes with wind chills in the -20 degree range.”

Adding an alternative use of the word “harden” in HTFU!

I’ll likely ride with most of the clothes I own. Big issue is whether I’ll swap the studded tires out for the conventional wheels/tires tonight.

[cyclingfool]

I’ve had a couple people here at work suggest I take metro tomorrow. For me that boils down as follows:

15 minute walk to the station
Up to 10 minutes waiting on an open air platform for the train (yes, even at rush hour, $hit happens, it’s Metro)

So I could be outside in the elements for 25 minutes just to ride a train downtown and walk the additional ten-fifteen minutes to the office.

Or I could dig out my balaclava, bundle up REALLY well, buy a couple chemical toe warmers this evening for use in the AM (?), stop in at a coffee shop in Crystal City to warm my tucchus along the way (if needed) and just ride in to work tomorrow. I’ll be exposed for a maximum of 50 minutes w/o break, assuming I don’t stop anywhere and the headwind is brutal. If I engineer a stop into my commute to warm up mid-ride, I will have no more additional exposure than I would taking metro, and I’ll be doing more to generate my own body heat than I would bundled up walking to the metro station.

So, my decision to cycle in tomorrow is not crazy. It is, in fact, well reasoned. And with the $7 I won’t be spending on metro, I can buy toe warmers and a nice warm something to drink when/if I stop mid-ride!

[guga31bb]

Recent forecast from CWG:

* By 7 a.m. Tuesday, temperatures bottom out in the high single digits downtown and wind chills about 10 below
* By Tuesday afternoon, temperatures only rise into the mid-teens with wind chills still hovering around zero.

[Tim Kelley]

Twitter is calling it #PolarVortex and #Freezepocalypse2014.

[Raymo853]

I bet OPM is going to close the Fed Gov offices Tuesday.

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[Steve]

@Tim Kelley 73736 wrote:

Twitter is calling it #PolarVortex and #Freezepocalypse2014.

I was really jealous of my friends in Chicago who are going with #ChiBeria. Just has a nicer ring to it….

[DismalScientist]

@Raymo853 73738 wrote:

I bet OPM is going to close the Fed Gov offices Tuesday.

I scoff. Meanwhile, it is -14 with a -38 windchill in my hometown of Madison, WI (and colder than Minneapolis)

[Subby]

If I wear ski goggles I think I will be okay from a clothing standpoint. I am more worried about any mechanical issues that might pop up. Will my chain get wet and insta-freeze?

[cyclingfool]

@Steve 73739 wrote:

I was really jealous of my friends in Chicago who are going with #ChiBeria. Just has a nicer ring to it….

Think Darrell Hammond (as Sean Connery) on SNL Jeopardy, and ChiBeria sounds about right.

[Author]

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