Two Interesting Articles That Came Across My Desk:

[Subby]

You can have my Pearl Izumi ELITE Balaclava when you pry it from my dead, frozen, fat fingers.

[DismalScientist]

@acl 69611 wrote:

That depends. Did you buy it specifically for cycling, or did you repurpose your vest you already owned from your road-construction hobby?

My road construction hobby? That would involve real work, something with which I cannot abide. I might get callouses or something. No, I picked it up during my stint with The Village People.:rolleyes:

[KelOnWheels]

@mstone 69676 wrote:

My thought is that regardless of whether you’re currently equipped to walk from the car/bus to your office, that has nothing to do with being dressed for winter cycling at speed. The big factor is the windchill, and if you screw this up you’re risking some serious issues on a long suburban commute.

This exactly.

I a) don’t own enough warm regular clothes to ride my bike in them and b) don’t feel like dying of hypothermia on Gravelly Point on the way home. Riding a couple of miles in the city even if it’s 20 degrees out is way different than riding 10 or 20 on a dark trail where your bailout points are 5 miles apart.

(Because in KelWorld it is colder when it is dark out.)

[Amalitza]

@dasgeh 69672 wrote:

I do think a cool info graphic could be “how to cycle comfortably with what’s in your closet” — with a version for runners, skiiers, maybe others. And maybe a side note on what pieces you might want to upgrade. Of course, bike gear companies aren’t going to pay for that, but maybe BikeArlington or similar will? Or maybe they already have…

And that would have been a great thing for copenhagenize to write/publish, instead of a silly article chastizing people who write and publish the other kind of infographic. More information is good! Griping at people who give out information that is useful to some people because it is less useful to other people is less good.

[Jason B]

Great article.
This weekend I went on my neighborhood’s weekly local dad’s morning ride. It was a casual 25 miler to Bethesda for coffee and back. I haven’t done it in a while, but they are great bunch of guys. On the ride, one of the dads was asking me about commuting to work in this colder weather, because he was thinking of doing it. Typical, I started with the laundry list of various winter specific cycling clothes that make the ride more palatable. Between the booties, lobsters and windblock, I must have mentioned about $400 worth of stuff all total.
After reading that article, I have now realized I probably did more damage to getting him to commute to work than a broken frame. I should have simply just said layer up with what you have got and wear something yellow, and give him my BA wrap lights. I feel like a tool. This bunch of dads has never missed a weekend ride in 3 years, and we have had some seriously cold winters over the years. I roll up in my carbon whatever, covered with $300 dollars of crap. They are in ski jackets, sweats over sweats, and double socks pulled high. But, you know what, they are there every weekend, laughing away, having a great time. Every time I go with them I am quickly reminded that cycling is simple, fun and does not have to be grueling sufferfest.
Nobody told me what to wear when I first started riding, I simply wore a t-shirt, sneaks and gym shorts, but I loved it. Rode that Raleigh everywhere, school, trails, groceries. Eventually my butt told me to get different shorts, but that was long after my love for riding was instilled. This article reminds me let new riders find their own path and let them keep it simple and fun,,,,,and yellow.
Thanks Tim, I have sent it to all the neighborhood dads.

[Jason B]

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I think I rather go biking with the Copenhagen folks than these Jackweeds
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-15/in-the-land-of-the-mamils-where-men-are-men-and-bikes-are-a-semester-at-yale.html

[eminva]

@Jason B 69733 wrote:

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I think I rather go biking with the Copenhagen folks than these Jackweeds
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-15/in-the-land-of-the-mamils-where-men-are-men-and-bikes-are-a-semester-at-yale.html

Hmmm . . . competitive middle aged guys . . . I’m sure I’ve never, ever, ever met any of those outside of Wall Street . . .:rolleyes:

Liz

[PotomacCyclist]

Evelyn Stevens used to work on Wall Street, in a stressful job with long hours. Then she picked up the cycling bug after a weekend back home with her sister. She started riding on her trainer after work, day after day. She found that she was pretty good at cycling when she was dropping everyone on local training rides. She became more serious about her training and eventually left Wall Street. She turned pro. Among her career highlights — making the 2012 London Olympics U.S. road cycling team.

As far as I know, she isn’t like the guys in the Bloomberg article. Then again, she isn’t a he, and she wasn’t middle-aged when she started cycling either. She also turned out to be much better than even many of the pros.

***
I’ve followed her career somewhat, since I participated in a charity bike time trial event that she attended, right here in D.C. Probably the coolest bike event I’ve done so far. Solo time trial down Pennsylvania Ave. with a personal motorcycle escort, and a starting gate like they have at the Tour de France TT stages. (Only that TT was quite a bit shorter, just 5 miles.) And I didn’t even have to qualify. I think I only paid about $20 to enter. Too bad the charity only held the event that one year.

[Jason B]

@eminva 69736 wrote:

Hmmm . . . competitive middle aged guys . . . I’m sure I’ve never, ever, ever met any of those outside of Wall Street . . .:rolleyes:

I’m old enough to refer to it as spandex, not lycra, so technically I’m a Mamis, which is a female mammoth, which I am terribly comfortable, even flattered being referred to as.:o
I just think sometimes we forget that biking is meant to be fun, despite the grind up Military Ave. Working with kids, this article reminded me to focus on what we have and not what we don’t. Sometimes when our hobbies turn into obsessions we lose sight of that simple fact.

[jabberwocky]

I thought the copenhagenize article was dumb. I mean, it isn’t helpful to tell someone who wants to get out in cold weather that they need a ton of expensive clothing, but depending on their commute sending them out in their normal winter clothing might not be such a good idea either.

FWIW, I’ve been commuting all winter since 2005, and actually don’t own all that much “bike specific” winter clothing. Most of my base layers are generic ones that I got on closeout from places like backcountryoutlet and rei for very little money. Certain things (a nice shell jacket, shoes, tights) bike specific stuff is very nice, but probably not absolutely necessary. But it really depends on your commute and how fast you like to ride.

And am I the only one that gets really irritated when people try to compare the US to tiny flat european countries? They are not even remotely equivalent.

[lordofthemark]

@jabberwocky 69744 wrote:

And am I the only one that gets really irritated when people try to compare the US to tiny flat european countries? They are not even remotely equivalent.

I get tired of people who preach that you should not bike in the way that is comfortable for you, for the sake of optics, whether its copenhagenize on a rampage against bike clothes and helmets, or VCers on a rampage against segregated infra, or folks on a rampage against Idaho stops.

But I do think we can learn a lot from DK and the NL. They are tiny countries, but most of us don’t bike from coast to coast, so the size of the US isn’t really that relevant. There are a huge number of Americans whose commute is less than 2 miles, yet who drive to work. And many others who routinely drive for short neighborhood errands. What are the obstacles to getting them to bike? In many if not most cases, its precisely the issues raised by Copenhagenize, when its focused on infra and such, and not on bike culture.

The issue of terrain is interesting. I think its clear that it has an influence on how people bike. You don’t have to look at Europe for that. You can compare biking in the L’enfant city part of DC (the relatively flat part) with biking in the suburbs or the hillier parts of DC. Logan Circle biking looks a lot more like Danish/Dutch cycling than Fairfax cycling does, AFAICT.

There does seem to be a rapid growth in cycling in some less flat euro cities, like Lyons, I think. I don’t know much about the details though.

also – here in greater DC many of the flattest parts of the region have development restrictions of various types. What it would mean for cycling if it were easier to build more densely in the flattest places near the center of the region? So that more people could live in such places?

[dasgeh]

@lordofthemark 69759 wrote:

The issue of terrain is interesting. I think its clear that it has an influence on how people bike. You don’t have to look at Europe for that. You can compare biking in the L’enfant city part of DC (the relatively flat part) with biking in the suburbs or the hillier parts of DC. Logan Circle biking looks a lot more like Danish/Dutch cycling than Fairfax cycling does, AFAICT.

Yes, but: Adams Morgan cycling looks a lot like Dupont Circle cycling, which looks like Logan Circle cycling. I’m starting to think that as long as there’s a reasonably not-too-steep route, distance is more than issue than terrain. When the _only_ route is steep (Rosslyn hill), you loose a segment of the population.

[vvill]

@jnva 69645 wrote:

I do! I bought moto goggles for cold weather riding.

Same. They work great, and don’t fog up either. I bought a few ski/snow specific items for winter biking actually, as I think they tend to be a bit cheaper than bike-specific winter stuff.

@jabberwocky 69744 wrote:

Certain things (a nice shell jacket, shoes, tights) bike specific stuff is very nice, but probably not absolutely necessary. But it really depends on your commute and how fast you like to ride.

Agreed. In the late fall/winter I’ll often just wear wool layers under my bike jacket, and sometimes jeans over bike shorts, so that my only really “specialized” gear is jacket, shoes, shorts (and headwear/helmet).

The whole comparison with Copenhagen is a bit silly. When I rode a bikeshare there it seemed ridiculously easy to get around without having to worry about SUVs cutting you off, and confrontational motorist attitudes. Funnily enough, I remember I was carrying a laptop and a heavy backpack and I overheated and got all sweaty. :rolleyes:

I refrained from owning cyclist specific gear beyond a few MTB items until I got a road bike 2.5 years ago. I found the biggest advantage of winter cycling specific/”technical” gear is that it prevents you from overheating and sweating too much. It’s easy to use layers you already own to stay warm, but it won’t breathe and you’ll overheat. (Conversely, if you go for a slow winter walk in cycling gear you will probably get cold.) I would virtually guarantee that if you asked those nicely dressed Copenpagen riders to do my commute on their bikes they would end up taking the bus (or car given how cheap gasoline is here). Almost every regular bike commuter I see in the more suburban parts of my routes is dressed in cycling specific gear, especially in the colder months. Having hills, cars, and distance means you want to go a reasonable speed which means you will sweat (e-bikes would be the other obvious option).

[jrenaut]

Come look at Columbia Heights, where the only direction you can go without a serious descent is north. It’s one of the biggest biking neighborhoods in DC (and plenty of single-speeds, too). Certainly hills play some part in who will cycle where, but they aren’t an absolute barrier. Columbia Heights does tend to be young and hipstery, but if Skinny Jean Fixie Guy can do it, then Average Joe Hybrid with Panniers can do it, too.

[KLizotte]

Anybody know a reliable source to see what the average commute/trip is for a Copenhagen cyclist? A quick google search did not turn up anything definitive which I find odd. If most folks are only going between 1-3 miles (on flat pavement), then yeah, wear regular street clothes.

For the record, I was in Copenhagen for a long wknd in June (or possibly July) and the humidity and heat was worse than an August day in DC. They were having a freak heat wave and nothing there is air conditioned. It was freakin’ miserable. I intentionally arrived hours early at the airport for my departing flight since I knew it would be air conditioned. And yes, everyone was still biking in street clothes but relatively slowly. I suspect they were more comfortable than walkers because they were getting a breeze and cycling requires less energy at low speeds than walking.

[Author]

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