Return of Walz Weather

Warmth yet cool

At 5 this morning the outside temperature was 44 degrees. That's near winter temps for us. Highs have been in the upper 60's/lower 70's and wonderful. Dressing for commutes that start off cold then warm up only to start off warm then cool down in these shortened daylight times makes dressing for the ride difficult with 30 degree spreads such as we've been seeing. Rather than bust out the wool only to have to shed it 30 minutes into a ride (or stop to put it on with 20 minutes left) or tote a ton of extra layers around, I opted for my long sleeve Swiftwick tech-t, wicking but warmer than the short sleeved staple one. Which worked for half of the journey.

The problem was that with the high winds and long shadows cast by the hills of the Highland Rim, the temps were on the colder side of cool while the long climbs had me sweating despite the chill. So the descents and open wind areas would chill me to the bone due to evaporative heat loss. Adding my wind vest would only exacerbate the situation.

Since I've been hot headed recently, and knowing we lose most of our body heat through our heads, I opted to stop and put my recently acquired cotton Walz cap on (I've only ever worn the wool ones until recently and the new wicking one is in my near future). Problem solved. The cotton version didn't hold the heat as much as the wool typically does, keeping my sweating from increasing while managing to still keep the heat in and my core temps up for the remainder of the cooling, darkening ride home. No more sniffles! Amazing what a simple cap can do.

So there's the lesson for the day kids. It's getting colder outside, put your caps on.