Ladies On Two Wheels

For many of us the season is either quickly coming to a close or has already ended. So, that makes me wonder, how does everyone else cope during the colder months?

Since I don't handle the cold very well, I tend to spend a lot of time with books, catching up on TV shows on the DVR, and watching a ton of movies.

We don't get a ton of cold here, its rain and dampness. If I really wanted I could keep riding, but it means a ton of layering, being wet when I get to work. Then there is riding home in the dark at 5:00 and on a rainy crappy night visibilty is almost nil. I was almost rear ended twice last winter. After that I decided it was better to park the bike.

As for coping during the winter months its usually filled with the stuff I don't do in riding season, reading novels, cooking, watching movies, doing crafts. I hate winter and darkness.

Seriously, when clear, just bundle up against the cold as it is mostly dry out here. But when it snows or ices up, I continue binge watching Netflix

Here in So Cal, it never really gets too cold to ride. Okay, that's a lie, last year around New Years it (rather exceptionally) dipped to 30° to 35° a few nights, but I was still able to ride on local streets by wearing a hoodie under my jacket, with thermal liners on both my jacket and my riding pants. It was also dry, so no ice or anything to worry about. I probably wouldn't have been able to do freeway speeds in those conditions, but for local riding it worked out just fine. I do need better cold weather gloves, though, or handlebar warmers.

Really, the problem here is the rain in winter. Since it only rains for one season out of four, the car drivers here tend to be... unaccustomed to rain, and drive even crazier than they normally do. Earlier this year when we had a couple odd and unexpected storm days in the summer, there was a day when the news app showed so many freeway closures and accidents (including a jackknifed big-rig or two) that I just called off from work so I wouldn't have to deal with the craziness. And with the climate folks predicting 35 inches of rain this winter because of the El Nino... well, let's just say this is looking like it might be an interesting rainy season.

The rain itself isn't usually a problem, though; indeed, sometimes I enjoy riding in the rain. It's just the drivers that make the rain troublesome for me.

Bike's already put away, so my winter weekend routine has already started. Coffee and a good read, coffee and a movie, coffee and catching up on TV shows, we DVR everything, Sundays are the hardest to manage, there's 8 shows that have to recorded, and a lot have overlapping showtimes. We are adding something new this winter, we discovered 2 great coffee (there's that "C" word, again) shops, we're planning on getting to one or the other, on one weekend day. Of course, that's weather permitting, going for coffee in a snowstorm is not relaxing, that's why I have a jar of instant.
Mostly, we rehash the summer that's passed and plan the summer that's coming.

I planned on commuting longer with the bike, but haven't been able to keep up on that these past few weeks. It's either been raining, or way to windy, or I have something I need to pick up in town and take the car. I want to get some better cold weather gear and continue to ride weather permitting longer!

When it gets too cold and snowy, I spend lots of time online planning and looking forward to warm weather. I can keep busy with holiday stuff, but January and February really suck. We still need to work on the inside of the house (yes - we're outside too much once it's nice!) so should pick another room to work on. Only problem is it makes things dirty inside while windows are shut!

Everyone could always just move to California. Good riding weather all year round! Almost makes the terrible drivers worth it!

Still holding out on Winterizing my bike. I filled my tank this morning. Brrr, the ride was a little chilly where skin was exposed specially this evening.