Healthy Insanity

My wife is crazy.

Not the usual "y-chromosome" view of the way we (men) think of those "people from Venus" crazy; she's obsessed with her fitness level. 

Not a bad 'Thing, when you consider the things we can be obsessed with, Healthy addictions are just that, and not to worry unless it becomes compulsive and you start working out rather than working for example. 

I should digress and point out I have no room to talk, I spent the better part of two years on a bicycle, runnlng or swimming in preparation for running the Hawaiian Ironmon, so I know what I mean when I say healthy addiction. 

In moderation, it's what gets us out on cold mornings. The lack of endorphins (natural anagesics) can be almost as bad as missing your morning coffee, Not something most of us want to consider. 

Back to my child bride. She gets up four mornings a weekday before the sun- to bicycle on the street, or spin in a class of fellow addicts, The spinners laugh about the activity and how much they sacrifice to get it done, but they do it. 

In my wife's case she looks about 20 years younger than her age and will proudly come in my office every so often to tell me what dress size she can get into now. But the title of the article refers to how she accommodates the cold. morning rides, Women have it rough when it comes to this they are always cold, so developing the fortitude to head out in the dark weekday mornings - takes courage and intelligence, in what to wear to fight the chill.

Don't forget, riding a bike automatically drops your temperature 10-15 degrees as you add wind-chill factor as you ride. 

The tricks: layers and torso protection, Sounds easy huh? Well, isn't that difficult, 

As far as the torso part-it's well-established that as long as your core temperature is normal, you don't really 'feel" cold. Adding a light vest to your bike outfit will do wonders to increase your core temp, and attitude about riding in cooi weather. 

Layers: Also pretty straight-forward. For every 5 degrees cooler-add a layer to your outfit, Make sure to keep your skin covered as well. That means long-fingered gloves, long sleeves or armwarmers and/or tights to keep your calves covered, An undertop of lycra or coolmax will usually do the trick for cool weather. 

If the temp. keeps dropping - add a vest over the jersey/top combo and you should be good to go. If it gets even colder (she really is crazy) get some of those earwarmers that skiers wear, Very effective under your helmet. Shoe covers are a little overkill, unless you're going to be out longer than two hours, plus they're clumsy and may spoil the outfit. 

So there you go- easy tips to ride comfortably till the sun comes back. Oh, yeah ... wear your helmet-silly,