Over the weekend, a wind chill warning was in effect as the temperature dipped to -41C, and my city had the dubious honour of being the coldest spot on earth overnight. The Canadian prairies have remained in a deep freeze all weekend, and the cold temperatures continued today. As I was out and about yesterday, trying to get some Christmas shopping done, it occurred to me that perhaps my temperature cut-off for biking should be -30C. Last week I managed to bike in -20C weather, but this -30C is a whole different ball game. It was just too damn much. When exposed skin will freeze in less than five minutes, I figure it's just not the right kind of day to ride my bike for 40 minute commutes.
So this morning, when I checked the weather to discover it was -32C outside, I drove. And once again, I battled terrible congestion and a very busy parkade and arrived frustrated, late, and very cold. I saw some cyclists on campus, and while it initially made me feel guilty for not biking when clearly other people could do it, I took comfort in thinking that perhaps they weren't coming from the west end and that perhaps their rides weren't 40 minutes long. A cold 10-minute ride would be a whole different story than a cold 40-minute ride.
But I digress . . . tomorrow is supposed to be -29C in the morning, which means that unless the wind chill contributes significantly to that temperature, I'll probably brave it on the bike. I'll keep you posted!!
