Ice, Ice Baby

Adding insult to injury, an ice storm hit here last night. Didn't we have enough precipitation?

Anyways, no driving to work today. Ironically, they had zero ice in Omaha last night, but once the storm passed over the river it froze like crazy. Must be all that husker hot air :>) Some places east of here got over an inch of ice accumulation.

I did not ride a bike today. The wife and I hunkered down here in the Dau compound, warm and toasty. Maybe I'll try tomorrow.

Several years ago, I purchased an Adidas cold weather cycling outfit, jacket and bibs. One of the best gear purchases I've made, and I wear the heck out of it during fall and winter. It still looks pretty decent, though the jacket is starting to show signs of wear. Works great, though. I bought the jacket a bit oversized so I can layer underneath. Usually, this consists of a base layer of a technical, long-sleeve mock tee neck then an Ibex wool top over that. It breathes, yet is plenty warm enough for most freezing and above cycling excursions. On my head, a Rivendell wool cap and wool balaclava. The pants have enough room to accomodate a base layer as well. Smartwool hunting socks and winter cycling shoes finish my winter gear-up.

Since this is the only set of winter cycling gear I have, I decided to supplement. I wandered into our local Trek store and discovered some nice Bontrager brand winter cycling bibs on deep discount. I tried on size L, a bit tight. The store owner explained most cycling clothing lines are designed for 'skinny Euro types', of which I am definitely not :>) It always seems that a good rule of thumb for cycling clothes is go up at least one size from what you would normally wear unless you want them to be form fitting. I also ordered a new jacket online...a Gore Tool. Since I couldn't try before buying, I had the wife measure me and it seems that the go up one size rule applies there as well. I liked the Gore Tool because it has a zip open underarm vent similar to my Adidas, a feature that has proved to be very handy. It was discounted as well, another great feature!

Looking forward to trying out the new gear, not looking forward to any more snow or ice!

-D