As I've mentioned in my previous two posts, we in New York are having the coldest weather we've had in two years. Everybody's talking about it: I think we were spoiled by such a mild season last year.
Still, we're getting off pretty easy compared to people in other parts of the world. Either of the past two days would have been utterly balmy in, say, Duluth, Minnesota. On an average January day, the high temperature there is 18F(-8C)--about what it was yesterday. Today it was about five degrees (F) warmer. And our night temperatures have been nowhere near as cold as the -1F (-18C) folks in Duluth experience on a typical January night.
Aside from the mild winter we had last year, the cold is affecting people in the Big Apple for another reason: wind. The wind has, at times, gusted to nearly 30MPH (50KPH), and has steadily blown at 10-12MPH (16-21KPH). That, of course, gives the cold a "bite" it wouldn't otherwise have.
However, there is one area in which, barring dramatic climate changes, New York winters will never compare with those in Duluth: snow. We should be thankful for small things: The cold and wind here have been dry, and the skies almost preternaturally clear. (Somehow, skies seem--to me, anyway-- clearer when it's cold.) The city by Lake Superior, in contrast, is almost always covered with snow at this time of year, mainly because when snow falls, it tends to stay for longer than it does here in the New York islands.
So, I have to give major "props" to any year-round bike commuter in Duluth--like Doug, the author of MnBicycleCommuter. When the roads are covered with snow, he rides a Surly Pugsley with the widest tires he can fit.
Now, if I had to ride in the kind of cold Doug regularly experiences, I wouldn't mind a view like that. I've pedalled into the sunrise: It put me in a good mood for work.
Doug definitely deserves such views. So does anyone else who rides in those conditions!
Still, we're getting off pretty easy compared to people in other parts of the world. Either of the past two days would have been utterly balmy in, say, Duluth, Minnesota. On an average January day, the high temperature there is 18F(-8C)--about what it was yesterday. Today it was about five degrees (F) warmer. And our night temperatures have been nowhere near as cold as the -1F (-18C) folks in Duluth experience on a typical January night.
Aside from the mild winter we had last year, the cold is affecting people in the Big Apple for another reason: wind. The wind has, at times, gusted to nearly 30MPH (50KPH), and has steadily blown at 10-12MPH (16-21KPH). That, of course, gives the cold a "bite" it wouldn't otherwise have.
However, there is one area in which, barring dramatic climate changes, New York winters will never compare with those in Duluth: snow. We should be thankful for small things: The cold and wind here have been dry, and the skies almost preternaturally clear. (Somehow, skies seem--to me, anyway-- clearer when it's cold.) The city by Lake Superior, in contrast, is almost always covered with snow at this time of year, mainly because when snow falls, it tends to stay for longer than it does here in the New York islands.
So, I have to give major "props" to any year-round bike commuter in Duluth--like Doug, the author of MnBicycleCommuter. When the roads are covered with snow, he rides a Surly Pugsley with the widest tires he can fit.
Now, if I had to ride in the kind of cold Doug regularly experiences, I wouldn't mind a view like that. I've pedalled into the sunrise: It put me in a good mood for work.
Doug definitely deserves such views. So does anyone else who rides in those conditions!
