brrrrrr

I rode to work yesterday in probably the coldest weather of the season so far. Overall, it wasn't too bad. I had my long sleeved jersey, then a regular jersey, then my wind vest, an outer shell of my LL Bean Mountain Parka Jacket, and finally long fingered cycling gloves. So my upper body was quite warm. The night before, Heidi and I went to Tower Records' going out of business sale and stopped at Performance Bicycles and I got some long legged therma-fleece tights. So, my legs were pretty comfortable. Honestly, I could have used some windblock on the front sides of the legs, but they weren't too bad.

So, why do I title the post "brrrrrr" if I keep saying how warm everything was? It was my toes. I only have one pair of cycling shoes. And they have nice vents up around the toes to help circulate some air around my feet in the summer so they aren't soaked in sweat. Well, that works well and great in the summer and all, but it kind of sucks in the winter. Going 22 MPH into a 10MPH wind (I was going downhill...) when it's 42 degrees out is a significant wind chill. My toes hurt when I got to work. The warm shower did a nice job of warming them up, though.

I either need to get some booties of one kind or another, or alternately, remember to cover those vents with some tape.

(Although this post looks like a product endorsement/placement ad, I received no money... ;-)