It’s definitely ‘that time’ of year again- the time when I reevaluate my daily cycling commute to work. Now I can deal with the early sun sets, and even the late sun rises- at least up to a point. But with autumn in full swing we are beginning to experience overnight temperatures that we haven’t seen since early May. And that means cold mornings.
8o C That’s where the rubber of my bicycle tires stops hitting the road. Eight degrees Celsius separates me from the pack of more committed cyclists. There is no special feature of this particular temperature: it’s not a physical constant (25.12 / π ) or otherwise cleverly related to some governing universal law of nature. It’s a comfort thing. I found myself close to the cusp on Wednesday: beautiful, sunny fall morning, but definitely ‘crisp’. Cycling through the lower, shaded streets of Kitsilano was cold and I looked forward to getting onto the hill on 8th avenue. The exertion there that I normally see as a chore was a welcome heat generator.
I have considered investing in the cycling garb that would see me through more inclement weather but I always have reservations about how much use I would get out of it. And I rationalize the end of my fair weather cycling regime by doing my own risk assessment for commuting.
When the temperature drops dramatically overnight we are often left with condensation on the streets in the mornings and in my books that’s equivalent to light rain. I draw my second line in the asphalt at wet roads. The odds of our city streets being wet by morning dew, rain, or even that white stuff that shall remain unnamed, are pretty high as we slide towards winter. So when our clocks are changed on November 1st I will have darkness and potentially wet streets conspiring against my bicycle commute. And at that time of year you can bet that 8o C will seem balmy!
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Wet I can deal with. It’s the icy roads that I’m terrified of…
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