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The Holy Trinity

Arm warmers, knee warmers, vest.

Year round, I rarely roll out of my garage for a bike ride without all three. They are a vital part of any San Francisco cyclist's wardrobe. Even on days when it's not 57 degrees, foggy and/or windy, it probably will be by the end of any ride. Even if it's 90 degrees up in Marin, by the time I get back to the Golden Gate Bridge the temperature will probably drop 20 degrees and the windchill will bring it down another 10. While most cyclists in this country get to bare their arms and legs all summer long, it's really rare for those of us who live in San Francisco.

(Non-cyclists who are picturing a Flashdance type of wardrobe with fluffy pink legwear: You probably wouldn't notice we're wearing our warmers. Knee and leg warmers simply extend our bike shorts from midthigh down to below the knee or ankle, and arm warmers are like long lycra sleeves. In other words, when combined with our already ludicrous togs, they don't stand out.)

Yesterday I rode in shorts and a short-sleeve jersey. We are experiencing a heat wave. It was a glorious day. I rode up to Marin to do my usual 30-miler. I turned around to come back with no bee stings, broken hardware or bonking. There was, however, an unfortunate family whose car apparently ran out of gas on the Golden Gate Bridge. Two passengers were in back attempting to push the car to the nearest exit. This sort of thing backs up traffic on the bridge, messes with a very fragile three-lane flow of vehicles leaving the city and has the potential to wreak havoc on traffic patterns through the entire peninsula. I watched as a CHP cruiser did a heroic U-turn on the bridge, ordered the pushers back inside the car, and pushed the car to the Vista Point exit. Wow.

Anyway, by the time I got back to the bridge, the fog had arrived. The fog is why I almost always ride with the holy trinity. The fog was blowing in from the ocean in swirling 30mph gusts, occasionally obscuring the bridge towers. Marin County to the north was clear and warm, and the city itself to the south was still pretty sunny, but the wind and fog have a way of shoving through that opening to the Bay like tourists vying for an outdoor seat on a cable car. The Golden Gate is like a giant funnel for both water and weather.

I admit that I had stashed my arm warmers in my jersey pocket before I left. I really can't leave home without them. But I didn't put them on; I just rode through the fog and out to the other side. It was cold and windy. And the human obstacle course of pedestrians was even more annoying than usual as they gawked at the incoming clouds and stared at the tops of the bridge towers while they disappeared and reappeared. And I got blown around on my bike and it was exhilarating. And I enjoyed it, dammit.

August 30, 2007 9:10 PM