You would think that after years of commuting I would be able to get my clothing choices correct by now. Most days it’s fine but sometimes I am too warm on the return journey home. However, one day this week I had the complete reversal of this.
The weather was amazing last week and I even managed to make a few journeys in shorts (see Double First). I knew it was going to be a bit colder this week so returned to my winter longs, jacket and boots. On Tue morning it turned out to be much colder than I expected. Without my proper winter gloves on my fingers were numb and I really had to focus to try and keep my mind off the cold. It was also a morning where a 2nd layer under my jacket would have been very welcome.
I’ve built up a fair collection of gloves over the years and have a pair for almost all conditions. Cold, wet, windy, sunny, freezing, warm, drizzly, soaking. You name it and I’ve got it covered.
However, at this time of year I generally swap between 2 different pairs: Gore windstoppers for when it’s cold and Altura Night Vision for when it’s freezing. The Gore gloves are good for down to 2 or 3°C and don’t get too hot if it warms up. Any lower than this though and my fingers start to bite. The Altura ones are great down to -3 or -4°C and they have a nice fleecy inside which helps to warm me up. There is also room for an inner glove if it gets really cold and they came with one when I got them. Sadly the inners have gone to the glove graveyard and I haven’t managed to replace them.
I always have them sitting on a radiator overnight so they give me a nice warm start when I get going.
The Gore ones are slightly more water resistant but neither will keep me dry in a downpour. I don’t find that wet hands matter too much anyway, unless it’s cold and windy with it. That can be a nightmare to deal with and I’ve had one or two commutes in the past when my fingers are agony by the time I reach work and taken a good 10 minutes before I can use them properly. The worst thing to do in this case it run them under a warm tap… Ouch!
2018 vs 2019
March is the month of the year here where we can have all kinds of weather conditions. As I said earlier, last week was showing signs of spring but this week has been back to wintery showers and storms. It can be lovely and calm one day and blowing a gale the next. Having clothing options to cover all eventualities is essential: there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. Also, remember it is almost never as bad as you think once you get outside and into the journey.
This reminds me of a commute I made last year and provides a nice comparison of the season from one year to the next. It was during the so called “Beast from the East“, when we received a massive dump of snow over a relatively prolonged period. My wife was working so I had to make sure the older 2 boys got to high school and would not have had time to drive them there as well as get back home to take the bike. It had been over 2 years since I drove to work so didn’t want to break this streak!
Somehow I managed to persuade them that it would be a good fun idea to take the mountain bikes to school, after which I would continue to work. Does this make me a bad parent? Or am I instilling resilience and a determination in them? I’d like to think the latter but your view may vary…
Anyway, we survived the journey and the conditions were beautiful although challenging. The above is made up of a collection of snap-shots from that journey. The boys did amazingly well and managed the trip home in one piece without me.
As a comparison the below is the same week from 2019. Amazing how different it is!
- Magene Radar Tail Light - July 18, 2023
- Remembering - June 23, 2023
- School Run Fun - June 19, 2023