A winter affliction

Many cold weather cyclists are familiar with the beardcicle. However, there is a lesser known winter cycling affliction. While beardcicles normally appear when the weather is at 0 or below, this newly documented affliction normally appears as the temperature approaches freezing (32 F). I have dubbed this new disease "Mitten Mouth."

Mitten Mouth occurs when a cyclists needs to increase his or her manual dexterity and the weather is warm enough to actually remove one's mitten while riding. One hand remains on the handlebars, the other is performing whatever task requires manual dexterity (taking panda pictures, for example) and the mouth is the only remaining place where one's mitten can remain secure.