The weather Wednesday morning was clear and cold, 22 degrees Fahrenheit. My first real winter weather commute in recent memory. Truthfully, I wasn’t worried about the cold, since I rode enough when I lived in Boston to learn that cold is not the enemy. A very thin layer of warm clothing goes a very long way.

My cold-weather gear:

• My regular (street clothes) coat, which has a waterproof rain shell exterior and a zip-out fleece liner.
• A thin balaclava, covering my head and face.
• Thin fleece gloves with rubber grippers.
• Glasses.

After a few blocks, I was already overheating. I took off my gloves to vent some heat, but the backs of my hands began freezing, painfully (lesson learned). So, the gloves went back on (maybe I should get thinner ones?), and I vented other ways, opening up the coat, unzipping the pit zips, and taking the balaclava off of my head. So, that is just too much winter coat when biking to work (lesson learned). I’m not sure how cold it’d have to be for me to need that much coverage, but it’d have to be cold.

On the afternoon ride, the coat retained just too much heat. Otherwise, a lovely afternoon ride.

Thursday morning was a balmy 34°F, and I wore instead my usual yellow REI rain shell jacket. No problems with cold. No problems with heat. Perfect perfect morning ride.