Portrait of an LBX

By Andy

We’ve done a lot of complaining about the cold lately. Those who follow our Twitter feed are probably getting tired of it. Part of the problem is that we’re in the midst of one of the coldest winters in 60 years for the northern hemisphere. I had written previously about how strange it was that we were riding through snow while on the same latitude as northern Florida. Somewhat reassuringly, in a schadenfreude sense, temperatures in Melbourne, Florida, even further south, hit record lows recently, bottoming out at 28 degrees Fahrenheit.

The other part of the problem is that we just haven’t been good Boy Scouts. Originally, we had intended to set out from Beijing in late August or early September and head south to avoid the winter. A lost passport and the addition of Alexis to the team nixed those plans, and we hit the road nearly a month behind schedule on September 23. For my part, I was completely unprepared for any sort of actually cold weather. The clothing portion of my original gear list reads:

1 pair Pearl Izumi biking gloves
2 pair Pearl Izumi bike shorts
1 Trek helmet
2 short-sleeve bike jerseys
1 long-sleeve bike jersey
2 synthetic short-sleeve shirts
1 synthetic long-sleeve shirt
1 smart wool long-sleeve shirt
2 pair zip-off pants
2 pair boxers
3 pair smart wool socks
1 waterproof jacket
1 pair waterproof pants
1 pair Merrel hiking shoes
1 pair Pearl Izumi bike shoes
1 Buff
1 waterproof helmet cover

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