Thursday Thoughts: Seasonal Rites

Some cyclists really enjoy warm, even hot weather.  (I’m one of them!)  Others relish (or say they do) the cooler seasons of the year.  I’ve noted that often the Heat-seekers find that “it’s too hot to ride.”  The converse is just as true for the Heat-Avoiders.  They too seem to disappear when the temp drops down into the low 40s.

It is a fact, we all have some range in which we are comfortable.  This range can be extended with technical support, but for each and every one of us, there is a set of conditions that are unacceptable.

If there is one article of clothing that truly marks a cyclist as dedicated it would be a pair of tights.  The purchase of a pair of tights is a commitment.  The “inexpensive” ones are not cheap.  The good ones are expensive.  The types that are made for extreme conditions are insanely expensive.  (Note:  In this context “extreme” means  temps below 20 degrees F, with gusting wind, and usually some amount of precipitation.)  The expenditure necessary to acquire tights just about forces the buyer to use them.  Buying a pair of tights is committing to riding in suboptimal conditions.

Arm warmers don’t do this.  Wind vests and jackets don’t do it.  There are lots of riders out there who extend the year with these lighter garments, but most of them seem to disappear before Thanksgiving, migrating to wherever it is that Summer Cyclists go for the Winter.  Tights, on the other hand, seem to really mean something.

Tights tend to define things.  Only the more dedicated riders own and wear them.  They mark two seasonal shifts.  In the Spring there is the First Ride Without Tights.  In the Autumn there is the First Ride In Tights.  Some folks always rush the season, at both ends.  One sees riders out in tights in the earl Fall, on sunny days with temps in the low 70s.  In the early Spring there are always those who decide to go bare-legged on cloudy days just above 40 degrees.

In both cases, the decision to use, or abandon tights is a commitment.  It says,  “I am here.  I am riding.  I will not be stopped.”  For some it’s an emotional decision.  Others operate on cold rational calculus.  But either way, once tights are donned, or abandoned, a choice is made, and a course is set.

It is now November.  Our climate is doing just exactly what it should be doing.  The first cold snaps are arriving.  Its time to put on the tights.