Cycling in the Cold.

Before I moved to Chicago, I was told to prepare for the cold. I had no idea what that meant. How cold was cold? Would I need to ski through the streets to get to classes? Would I have to dress like a fur trapper?? Was frostbite going to be a regular threat to my extremities??? With visions of blackened toes in my mind, I went into a winter sports shop in Dublin and priced Arctic survival gear. It turns out that it's not that cold in Chicago. But, it is cold, and it stays cold for a disproportionate amount of time. It turns out that while I don't hate the cold here, I do hate how long it lasts. When you're still donning four layers of protective wool baselayer in May, you start to go a bit ga-ga.

Cycling in the cold can be fun, and it can be torturous. The key is to keep those extremities dry. I'll never forget going to the Dahmer Dash alleycat in Milwaukee last November. They had had an early winter storm, and there was about a foot of snow on the ground. My feet got soaked on the ride from Kat's place to the start, and by the time the race began my toes were ready to fall off. Thankfully I wasn't alone. A bunch of us made it to the first checkpoint, and then we slunk off to Kat's to defrost.

Cycling in Chicago in the winter is a lot easier. Unlike Milwaukee, they actually plough the streets here (shock!) so even after a storm you can usually cycle on the streets within 24 hours. If you want to. I rarely do. But I'm lazy. Anyway, if you do want to, you can get out there. They are even good at ploughing everyone's favorite training ride location, the Lake Front Path. In the mornings it can be beautiful, cold, crisp and bright. If the temperature is at or below freezing, every cyclist you encounter is a friend. As long as you're correctly attired, you're fine. I usually wear my Team Pegasus shorts and jersey over the following: two pairs of wool socks, two pairs of fleece tights, two or three long-sleeve baselayers under a long sleeve winter jersey, two pairs of gloves, and a Belgian style winter hat. Oh, and neoprene overshoes.

The novelty of the cold really does wear off after a while, though. Washing the rock salt off the derailleurs loses its glamour after a few times, and there's really only so long I can take cycling alongside a Lake Michigan with huge chunks of ice floating in it...


The funny thing is that the cold helped me solve a mystery that had plagued me for a long time, namely why I had always seemed to be unfit. As a teenager, I played badminton at least three times a week for years, and never quite figured out that it was not normal for someone who did as much exercise as I did to be constantly out of breath. I just assumed I was unfit, even when that made no sense. But when I came over here it got much, much worse. I couldn't breathe if I did any kind of exercise outdoors in the Chicago winter. My lungs would be ragged after only a few minutes cycling, so I went to the doctor and was told that I have Exercise Induced Asthma. I would never have known had I not moved over here and started cycling in the cold. I got an inhaler, and it works really well. I can now actually participate in sporting events without wheezing away like a geriatric.

Of course, now I look like a grade A doper at the velodrome, huffing down my stimulants and steroids before a race. I mean, the name of the company that produces my Albuterol probably doesn't help...