Matt Yglesias

By Request: Winter Biking

Allan wants to know about “bike commuting in winter.”

This is my first winter as a bike commuter. I’d heard bad things about it but I haven’t found it to be a huge problem. The key breakthrough was when I figured out how to make my helmet big enough to wear my hat under it. That and remembering to wear gloves. Normally, I don’t wear gloves outside unless it really gets quite cold — it’s convenient enough to stick ‘em in your coat pockets if they get a little chilly, and keeping the gloves off leaves your hand free to fiddle with your iPod or whatever. But you can’t put your hands in your pocket on a bike, and you don’t need to manipulate any small objects with your fingers — what you need are some gloves to shield your fingers from the wind.

Beyond that, in all things related to bike commuting we need to look to our friends in Europe. The top bike commuting city is Copenhagen, not San Diego. If people can bike to work in Denmark’s winter (I even saw plenty of people biking around Helsinki in December) then it can be done wherever you might be in the USA as well. Unfortunately, American mindspace about bicyling tends to be dominated by the insidious recreational bikers, who’ve gotten it into people’s heads that even on a lovely day for a bike ride the act of pedaling requires intricate performance gear including funny biking outfits. But bike commuting is a whole different ballgame — you’re just trying to get to work, so you should wear what you would wear. If it’s cold, wear a sweater and a scarf under your coat. If you need to give a presentation, bike in a suit and fancy shoes. You’re not going to set world records in a bundled-up-for-winter outfit, but the point is just to get to work. See, e.g., the Copenhagen Cycle Chic blog.

But it all starts with a hat and gloves even in weather that you wouldn’t ordinarily consider nippy enough for ‘em.

A Rescue for Iceland

Iceland to get an IMF rescue package. This happens to third world countries every now and again, but a developed economy hasn’t had to call on the IMF since Britain in the mid-1970s.

Meanwhile, because nippy weather has finally arrived in Washington, DC I put on a 66 Degrees North jacket that I bought in Iceland and thought would be suitable attire for autumn bike commuting. When I read the story about the bailout, I thought that the collapse of the Iceland economy and currency might lead to some good bargains at the store’s website. But not really. Prices are denominated in Euros and not cheap.

UPDATE: Actually, David observes that South Korea needed an IMF assist during the 97-98 Asian financial crisis so this isn’t all that unusual.

Fancy Bike Helmets

Denmark is known for its good design, and Copenhagen is one of the world’s great bike commuting cities. At the same time, bike helmets are known for making you look idiotic. So what the world needs is some clever Danish designer to come up with some bike helmets that don’t suck. And here comes Yakkay to the rescue.

Thus far, they don’t seem to have any available in the US. Which is too bad. Also all these helmets seem to be for women. But still, progress!

Embrace the Pocket Square

Like Spencer Ackerman I only rarely read GQ and when I do the results are invariably disturbing. The latest issue exhorts me to, among other things, “embrace the pocket square.” I, for one, refuse to embrace the pocket square. Rep Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) embraces the pocket square and I’m comfortable leaving it to him:

And then look at this slideshow about how I should dress at work:

• $3,500 suit.
• $760 shoes.
• $360 sunglasses.
• $4,400 watch.
• $515 wallet.
• $1,500 messenger bag.

Who buys this stuff? I’m hardly impoverished but can’t imagine spending that kind of money on this stuff. Even John McCain’s shoes don’t cost $760 and he owns so many houses he can’t keep track of them all. If there’s really a market for this kind of thing, then we definitely need to make the tax code more steeply progressive at the high end.