THE Winter Riding Essential, That You Can't Buy.
I'm rolling up the hill from work to meet up with my regular, year round, night ride. It's pitch black, none-too-warm, and pissing rain. The wind just picked up. I have my head tilted at 45 degrees which lets me see the blur of oncoming headlights while minimizing the amount of water dodging past my fender and visor. It's the perfect hill to sit and spin my gear and I'm making great time with a steady chant playing in my head:
No bad weather, just bad gear. No Bad Weather, just bad gear. No Bad Weather, Just Bad Gear.
I've been doing this, steadily, for a fairly long time now. Nine years? The cast is fluid, but it is a rare night that no one shows. Sure, I've missed a few nights over that time for family, injuries, sickness, work, but never because of the weather. Rain, shine, snow, etc. A lot of North Shore trails are sensitive to the wet winter weather, and we're very sensitive to that. For the wet season we stick to a constantly varying mash-up of exactly the same set of armoured trails. Yep, the same trails every week all winter. It isn't really something you can explain but it never gets boring.
No bad weather, just bad gear. No Bad Weather, just bad gear. No Bad Weather, Just Bad Gear.
Over this time I've developed a set of gear that works for me: Goretex cycling shoes, wool socks, wool bib-knickers, soft shell 3/4 overshorts, wool jersey, Goretex jacket, soft shell gloves, and a Goretex cycling cap under my helmet when it gets really nasty. My pack is seam sealed, and on any given night it holds a few extra pair of gloves, every tool I have ever needed to get me home, an emergency blanket, a back-up light, and something to take the chill off in the event of an unplanned break for a mechanical.
It's around this time, and always mid chant (No bad weat…her), that the doubts start to set in. My soft shell gloves start to puff up a bit as they begin taking on water. The first bits of moisture invade my shoes from above offering a little preview to the wet-but-warm sunken boats I will be turning before the night is through. A slight chill passes through my overshorts as the words "resistant" and "proof" are clarified as regards North Van's abundant liquid sunshine.
No bad weather, just bad gear?!?!
It's the reason, I think, that so many riders who profess an absolute eagerness, in September, to pedal through the winter surrender en masse et avec vitesse (pardon the random -- and unrelated -- use of French) at the first sign of the cold-dark-nasty-wet. It doesn't matter how bright of a light you buy: you can't see for shit. It doesn't matter how many Goretex or eVent logos are on your clothes: you're going to be wet, and eventually you're going to be cold.
No bad weather, just suck it up. No Bad Weather, just suck it up. No Bad Weather, Just Suck It Up.
It can't be taught. Or at least, I've never seen an adult pick It up. So if you don't have It, and you wish you had It, I guess you can blame your parents. It gets called by a lot of different names ("Stoicsm", "Mental Toughness", "Indomitableness"), but really It is just a higher level of indifference. It's THE Winter Riding Essential, that you can't buy, and I call it my "Bruce Spicer Face." Now, to be fair, the few times I have had the pleasure of meeting Bruce he is always quick to smile, but it was this photo, on the Mighty Riders' blog, that finally put an image to the idea of It for me. It's Lillooet in February and there are absolutely zero F***s given about the freezing rain, and howling wind. No bad weather, just suck it up.
No bad weather, just suck it up. No Bad Weather, just suck it up. No Bad Weather, Just Suck It Up.
I put on my Bruce Spicer Face and continue to pedal up the hill to meet the crew. We'll have a quick laugh about all the excuses from other regulars that popped up an hour or two before go time (my wife needed the car, my dog had piano lessons, I need to drink beer and watch Gilmore Girls in my underwear, my couch is sick, I have a hot date this weekend and need some fresh Birkenstocks, etc) and then we'll all turn It on and off we go.
Just suck It up?
D
Mean People SUCK! Nice People SHOVEL!
Trails For All; Trails For Weather
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