:: Thursday, January 23, 2003 ::

0 degrees F, -13 with wind-chill

9:30 am

"It's gonna be a cold one today," I thought to myself as I pulled on thermals and a fleece. WBEZ was gave a severe-weather alert as I ate my breakfast of raisin toast with apple butter and soymilk. It's important not to feel intimidated by the morning or else the whole day feels like a fucking mountain, so I staid myself by thinking of temperatures back in Wisconsin where I grew up (-7, -23 wind-chill in New Richmond today). As I rode downtown the few brave souls on bikes gave me a friendly nods, as if to say, "It's cold comrade, but not enough to keep us off the streets." I admired the construction workers standing along side the streets, bundled like little kids out sledding in their head-to-toe brown Carharts. In an effort to stay in motion, and warm, I found myself blowing off more stoplights than usually. Must keep pedaling. At higher temperatures I avoid stopping for the opposite reason, coming to a standstill lets the sweat that's been kept at bay by the cool wind catch up with me. My fingertips were freezing inside their insulated Gortex shells. I made claws and flexed. I banged my digits against the top of my bullhorn handlebars. The only thing that warmed them up was stopping for traffic, warm blood and sweat draining into my hands as I balanced at the stoplight. When I got to work, my reflection in the black glass doors showed a dusting of ice around the nose and chin. It was very nice, an epic adventure in one half-hour's time.

Today Jim from Minneapolis sent me this message:
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Almost a week since last Report... I was afraid the cold got you, Ira.

Keeping it real and cold as fuck here up here in the Mini-Apple. I laugh at my coworkers that say the thermometer in their Blazer read -12F this morning, but only because they're not privy to the moment of truth every morning where I ask "why go in today?"
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The cold hasn't got me yet. I must say, Northeastern Minnesotans have an unnatural cold tolerance. I suspect this is because they have Norwegian Troll somewhere in their lineage. My respect for winter bikers increases directly with their latitude North.

Stay warm!

:: Ira 11:06 AM [+] :: [comment/respond]
...

"Never been in a fist fight, been knocked out one time/ stupid motherfucker thought peace was a gang sign"

14 degrees F, 0 with windchill.

I've been listening to "Eyedea: The Many Faces of Oliver Hart" for the past couple of days and consequently have his catchy lyrics in my head like some kind of infection. Also on my Winamp v.2 playlist have been Terry Allen and Sonic Youth -Murray Street. When outside I can be heard singing songs about trains, biking through the frigid Chicago atmosphere, breathing frost, and wishing it was spring. When I ride dontown for work my body is pleasantly warm. My stomach is full of hot oatmeal and rich soymilk, my torso covered with multiple thermal layers, and I'm wide awake after a long night's sleep. I make an average of 4 trips throughout the day, getting progressively colder. My last ride is usually home from a movie, bar, or social event. It is after midnight and bone-jaringly cold. The wind pierces like a freezing spear through however many layers I have on. Fingers of cold air reach down my collar, up my back, and around my earlobes. If I stopped riding I would be overwhelmed; my sweat would turn cold, blood slow down, and body freeze to the cold steel of my bike frame. In fifteen minutes my core temperature would drop into hypothermia. Flurries of frozen moisture and road salt would gather in drifts, turning my frozen corpse gray. By morning I would have become a stationary fixture of the icy urban waste.

Fortunately there are other options. My top three winter activities are: curling up with a cup of hot cocoa, a good book, and my warm girlfriend.

My cocoa recipe:

3 tablespoons dark chocolate, dumpster-dove from Blommers factory.
1 cup soy milk

Put chocolate and 1/4 cup soymilk in cup, microwave until melted. Add the othe 3/4 cup milk and heat some more. The resulting mixture will be so rich that your appitite will be spoiled.

Good books:

The Monkeywrench Gang - Edward Abbey
The Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman

My Girlfriend:

Andrea- Just finished college last week. Be sure to congratulate her. She is the greatest.

P.S. Wanna read a funny account of last weekend's anti-war demonstration? This kid is absolutely irreverent.

:: Ira 11:13 AM [+] :: [comment/respond]
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