It's a head thing.

Years ago a friend tried, rather unsuccessfully I must say, to teach me how to fly fish. "Its all in the wrist," he would say to me and flicked his fly just inches from some reeds or submerged tree limb sticking out of the water.

Its more than just wrist action. It also involves a connection to the head. I must not have made the connection because I never got the hang of the technique and decided focused my recreation activities in another direction.

This morning after arriving at the office and successfully doing battle with the cold, I thought to myself, "You know, when it comes to cold weather riding, "Its all in the head." And then I remembered my lesson with fly fishing and amended my thought with, "and having the right gear!"

I check the temperature around 8:00 and saw this:


By 9:00 the sun had started melting the frost from the area roofs.

I'm really impressed with my new Fieldsheer Tour Temp jacket. After an hour of riding I had just started feeling the cold in my arms.

I have yet to purchase a heated solution for my hands - not sure if I want to go with gloves and deal with the wire up my sleeve or with heated grips - but I did find a disposable product that kept all but my fingers warm.

The product's name is Hot Hands-2 and is an aggregate mixture in a tea bag that generates heat when exposed to the air. They're marketed toward outdoor recreationist and have been around for years. A package of 4 cost me about $1.50 so I thought, "Why not?"

I tucked them into the palm of my hand and donned my gloves. They were a little bulky but after a few minutes I forgot they were there. And they stayed warm for the entire ride.

The frugal person in me put them inside a Ziploc baggie at the office and sprayed some computer "Dust-Off" into the bag to remove the air. I suspect they'll be ready to activate again for the ride home this afternoon. We'll see.

Cold weather riding is a challenge, but for me, after you have the right gear, its more mental than anything. I have to psych myself into thinking that as long as there's no ice or snow, nothing is going to stop me from riding.

Besides, I get really cranky when I don't ride every day or so.



Ride Safe!