Riding in the winter. Here's what you need.

To ride in the winter, here's what you need: studded tires, windproof coat and pants, merino wool baselayer, warm gloves, hat and socks. Easy.

Winter tires. Carbide steel studded Marathon Winter tires. Manufactured by Schwalbe.  Great tires.  They grip icy, snowy slippery streets.  Keep you riding safely all year around.  Don't yield the streets and the bike lanes back to the cars.  Worth every penny.  They fit most mountain, touring and hybrid bikes.

Get them.  Contact me.  I've got them.  And I'll give you the best price simply so you can keep riding all year around.

If it's cold fingers, toes and nose that's getting you down, you need:

- Warm hat: North Face or Outdoor Research micro-fleece polar-tech, windproof hat.
- Icebreaker merino wool balaklava -- get the 200 weight.

Warm gloves: Outdoor Research windproof, insulated gloves.

Warm socks: Icebreaker or Smartwool socks made for winter trekking or climbing.  A thick wool sock is a good sock.

Do you need an easy way to stay warm while wearing your normal office clothes?  Get a good Gortex rain/wind jacket and rain/wind pants to wear as an outer layer (and keep your office clothes clean).  Since it's often the windchill that makes you cold on a bike, a windproof outer layer does miracles.

If you're still not warm enough, get Icebreaker merino wool 150-weight tops and bottoms (base layer) to wear under your clothes.  Merino is an amazing fabric.  It's comfortable and won't cause you to boil while sitting around your office, but it'll keep you warm on the bike, esp. when you put on your windproof outer layer.

For all these things, contact Tents and Trails (NYC), Moosejaw (Mich.) or Eastern Mountain Sports (NYC)

P.S. Icebreaker is expensive, but worth every penny.  It has saved my life -- no joke -- and it'll certainly save your bumm from freezing.

Best,
Robert
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Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply (TM)
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2010 Robert Matson

If we're not able to kick the oil habit, we can always learn to survive a nuclear blast.

The Obama administration doesn't want to seem alarmist, so I'll help spread the word.

From today's New York Times:


SCIENCE
U.S. Rethinks Strategy for the Unthinkable
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: December 15, 2010
"The Obama administration wants to convey how to react to a nuclear attack but is worried about seeming alarmist."



"Suppose the unthinkable happened, and terrorists struck New York or another big city with an atom bomb. What should people there do? The government has a surprising new message: Do not flee. Get inside any stable building and don’t come out till officials say it’s safe.

"The advice is based on recent scientific analyses showing that a nuclear attack is much more survivable if you immediately shield yourself from the lethal radiation that follows a blast, a simple tactic seen as saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Even staying in a car, the studies show, would reduce casualties by more than 50 percent; hunkering down in a basement would be better by far."

Read more about how to protect ourselves from those who hate us -- and sell us oil -- by reading the original article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/science/16terror.html

Next, we need to learn how to protect ourselves from those who hate us and loan us money.

Best,
Robert
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Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply (TM)
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2010 Robert Matson

Getting onto something a little more comfortable: bents versus standard frames

I'm no fan of the silly debate about which bike is better: a bent or a diamond frame ("DF") "standard" bike.  As far as I'm concerned, people should sit on whatever they like, as long as it's not a car seat.

Still, from time to time, I find myself lured into an annoying conversation where I feel compelled to defend the performance of bents, usually to male standard frame riders of a certain age.  They don't buy the comfort angle; they want to know how fast they are on the hills.

The results from the 2010 Race Across America, in which bents are permitted to race alongside diamond frames (over mountains and hills), illustrate how bents perform against DFs.  All things being equal -- and they never are -- they're pretty much equal.  However, in RAAM 2010, there were very few bent riders overall, so it's noteworthy that bents placed in the top of several categories.

Meanwhile, sadly, I find no mention of drug testing on the race's website (maybe it's there, but not anywhere obvious).  Doping can decide a race and, without drug testing, ultimately, race results are meaningless.  If there is no drug testing at RAAM, then I personally would assume that some athletes are doping.

Summary:

The under-50 solo women's category winner, Barbara Buatois, was on a recumbent. Out of the five starters, 2nd and 3rd place were on standard frames.  Among the DNFs (did not finish) were one standard frame and one bent.  (This result is particularly interesting to me because women are a minority among bent riders, but the few I've worked with are among my most enthusiastic customers.)

Times, from 1st to 3rd were:

1:  11 days  19 hours  48 minutes  Avg. speed: 10.59  (Barbara Buatois)

2:  12d  16h  36m  Avg. speed: 9.87  (Sabrina Bianchi)

3:  12d  18h  31m  Avg. speed: 9.8  (Michele Santilhano)

The age 50-59 solo male category was won by Timothy M. Woudenberg, a recumbent rider, who was the only finisher out of six starters.  (This is additionally interesting to me because the "over 50 market" is a demographic I commonly see for bent riders.)

Time:

10 days  23 hours  14 min.  Avg. speed: 11.42  (T. M. Woudenberg)

In the four-person male under-50 (years old) category, a bent team holds their own in a field of 11 teams, taking 3rd place, with standard frames taking 1st and 2nd place.
Times, from 1st to 3rd were:
1:  6 days 2 hours 39 minutes   Avg. speed: 20.49 mph  (Team: Bandwidth.com Inc.)
2:  6d  6h  59m   Avg. speed: 19.9 mph  (Team: Team doc2doc)
3:  6d  9h  35m.  Avg. speed: 19.57 mph  (Team: Bent Up Cycles)


Does that tell us anything meaningful?  Maybe the idea that bents aren't inherently slower (or faster) will help convince a few pain-ridden standard frame riders to get onto something a little more comfortable.

Best,
Robert
------------
Robert Matson
New York City Recumbent Supply (TM)
The Innovation Works, Inc.
copyright 2010 Robert Matson