What I wore today, Part II

Today we had our first single digit morning temps of the season. The forecast was for a low of 14 degrees. They missed it by 10 degrees. It was 4F degrees at my house when I left this morning with a -15 degree windchill.

Here's what I wore today:

A.M. miles: 8
P.M. miles: 12

Head: Pearl Izumi sweat band, Headsweats skull cap and helmet. Maxit Headgator worn as a neck gator and face coverage.

Torso: Patagonia Capilene Zip-Neck base layer, REI brand base layer synthetic long sleeve crew,Marmot DriClime Jacket

Bottoms: Patagonia Boxer Briefs, polypro light wt. base layer, REI Novara Headwind pants

Hands: generic polypro liner gloves, Vulpine Adaptive IceBike Mitts


Feet: Polypro liner sock, Smartwool hiking socks,
Lake MXZ301 Winter MTB Boots

Comments: You will see that most people that ride in these conditions recommend Balaclavas. I don't! I get too darn hot in them and soak through it on the first climb in any conditions. I was dressed nearly perfect today. I was very comfortable. The only adjustment I would make was I still had too much on my head. I soaked my head gear in the 8 mile commute this a.m.

We also had another dusting of snow this a.m. Before leaving the house I switched gears on the Dingle Cog set-up so that I was running the lower of the two gears. It was a smart move. A few places had snow cover on the roadway on my climb. The lower gear enabled me to ride through it without spinning the rear wheel. It worked in today's conditions, but I think it is still geared too high for some of the snow conditions I will encounter this winter.

With that in mind my Shimano Nexus internally geared 8-speed hub is on it's way and is scheduled to be here on Thursday. The 7-speed hub my LBS talked me into and then dragged their feet on (and nearly lost me as a customer in the process) is still a big question mark. I got fed up and ordered online the 8-speed hub I originally wanted to get 6 weeks ago when I walked into my LBS.

Tuesday: 20 mi
November: 561 mi
2007: 7,229 mi