How I Learned How to Stop Worrying and Love the Cold

I may be a longtime resident of New York, but I’ll never stop being a Californian. Even after living here for so long, winter is still a complete surprise to me, each and every season. Cold weather makes running and cycling outdoors tricky. If there’s even a hint of sunlight, I just assume it’ll be short-sleeve weather. On my way out the door, I’ve made more mid-stoop U-turns for additional clothing than I care to admit.

With a little adaptation, though, I’ve acquired a certain affection for winter. This year, global warming (or just typically variable maritime mid-Atlantic conditions) kept the cold at bay until January. Then, I had a real pang of regret when a business trip took me out-of-town during the one week when New York City trees finally decided to pack it in and dump the leaves. We still have no white stuff—just some good cold air, and memories of a 70-degree Saturday only a few weeks ago that I find hard to forget.

Anyway, now that the cold weather is finally upon us, here’s what I do to try and get in some productive outdoor time during the winter months. Is this pro-level coaching advice? Heck no, by all means, find (and pay for) a professional if that’s what you’re after. This is just one shivering Cali-boy’s way of not going all The Shining between December and March.

Weather.com is your friend. While the coffee is still brewing, and before I’ve knocked the sleep from my eyes, I’m already booting up the PC. Radio weather is geared for drivers, and what’s happening just thirty miles away on Long Island or up the Hudson may have nothing to do with Brooklyn. Yesterday’s forecast doesn’t matter. Hour-by-hour temperature and wind displays, and animated Doppler radar maps, help me make reasonable plans for an outing. I pay keen attention to the hour-by-hour progression of temperatures. A crack-of-dawn start always feels studly, but if it’s going to be a full ten degrees warmer at 10:00 a.m.—then I’m riding at 10:00 a.m. Sunset may not be until 5:10 p.m., with full dark hitting half-an-hour later, but there’s no way I’m going to be on the road past 4:15 p.m. or so. The temperature drops like crazy when the sun is just beginning to get low.