In Which the Long Underwear Appears Early

Cedar Lake looks pretty Nov. 2 during a late afternoon ride to and from the MMU campus.

As a bicycle commuter, I’m not all that unhappy with the Iowa winter. Sure, on snowy day or a day when the wind-chill gets below 10 below, I won’t ride. But in the absence of slick roads or extreme cold, I’m willing to dress in warm cloths and keep on biking.

In the past two weeks, it’s been a bit dicey, but that’s because I don’t ride on days of cold rain or snow falling from the sky. Today, the morning air temperature was in the teens (Fahrenheit, any European friends, I don’t know that is in Celsius except it’s well below zero).

It was cold. Long johns cold. I was not really very uncomfortable—in fact, I wasn’t really in full winter outfit, yet. I did have two pairs of socks on and long underwear, but if it had been colder, I would also have had an extra shirt layer on, and a scarf to go with the headband, hood and gloves.

But still—it’s early November. It’s pretty early in the cold biking season for the long underwear.

It will be even colder next week, with some snow in the forecast. I may yet have the three shirts and the scarf on, for those days when I can bike.

We’ll see.

C Avenue Pond in 5:15 p.m. darkness Nov. 7, 2019. Getting dark early, riding with lights.

Despite the chill, recent rides have been pretty. I can dress for chilly temperatures, and I don’t mind the lack of bugs at all. I just hope the early onset of arctic air isn’t too much of a sign of what’s coming this winter season.

Some views of final bike rides of October last week.