cold weather riding

Greg said:

I have been too cold to ride more than about 1.5 hr (normally I like
to ride 2-3 hrs). The weather is only about mid 50's, but a 20 mph
wind chill just makes me want to come in after an hour or so. What is
the best way to dress for this?

Greg,

While, doubtless, you'll get sage advice in response to your post, you may
also want to search this forum using such key words as . . . well . . .
"cold weather riding."

The topic has been discussed extensively recently (as temperatures have
dropped). I'm sure you'll find excellent info.

My $0.02? A polypropylene base layer, a long-sleeved jersey, and a
cycling-specific jacket, with multiple zippers, designed to protect against
wind. The zippers serve as your thermostat, but--when all dialed in--the
combination offers you pretty good protection against that ripping wind.

Best,

Neil

"Neil Brooks" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Greg said:

I have been too cold to ride more than about 1.5 hr (normally I like
to ride 2-3 hrs). The weather is only about mid 50's, but a 20 mph
wind chill just makes me want to come in after an hour or so. What is
the best way to dress for this?

Greg,

While, doubtless, you'll get sage advice in response to your post, you may
also want to search this forum using such key words as . . . well . . .
"cold weather riding."

The topic has been discussed extensively recently (as temperatures have
dropped). I'm sure you'll find excellent info.

My $0.02? A polypropylene base layer, a long-sleeved jersey, and a
cycling-specific jacket, with multiple zippers, designed to protect
against
wind. The zippers serve as your thermostat, but--when all dialed in--the
combination offers you pretty good protection against that ripping wind.

Best,

Neil

I agree on all fronts. I'll wear a sleeveless polypropylene undershirt with
a long sleeve jersey, or I'll wear a long-sleeve polypro shirt with a short
sleeve jersey. Over this I'll wear just a thin "shell" type jacket like
Pearl Izumi's Zephyr jacket. All zipped up, this works into the 30s, but
with the jacket stuffed in a rear jersey pocket, I'm fine in the 50s.

I wear knickers in the 50s, thin tights in the 40s, heavier tights in the
30s and a pair of really heavy tights with wind panels on the front when
it's in the 20s.

--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

Greg said:

I have been too cold to ride more than about 1.5 hr (normally I like
to ride 2-3 hrs). The weather is only about mid 50's, but a 20 mph
wind chill just makes me want to come in after an hour or so. What is
the best way to dress for this?

Do you mean a 20 mph head wind, or just the effect of riding through still
air?

In any case, mid 50s is not bad at all. I'd wear lightweight tights and a
longsleeve jersey. Maybe a light vest with open mesh back (to keep the wind
off your chest) at the start. When it gets into the 30s/40s, you have to
start thinking about how to keep your hands and toes warm.

Art Harris

Lotta layers, with polypro base, wool and/or fleece for air trapping
insulation and a shell for wind blocking. I was out last night with the
Bicycle Club of Philadelphia for the annual Christmas lights ride. The ride
was 15 miles at an avg rolling speed of 8 mph - so no opportunity to build
up heat.I was comfy in a poly pro base layer, light wool sweater, 200 fleece
jacket, cheap nylon vest with mesh sides and back, Smartwool cap, gortex
gloves with silk liners and wool socks. I added a smartwool gaiter for ride
home after supper. Temps were in the 20's and I was toasty. If it had been
cooler, I'd add polypro long underwear under my nylon zip offs.
Jon Shinefeld
Philadelphia, PA

"Greg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have been too cold to ride more than about 1.5 hr (normally I like
to ride 2-3 hrs). The weather is only about mid 50's, but a 20 mph
wind chill just makes me want to come in after an hour or so. What is
the best way to dress for this?

Begin by covering your head.

I use a 'balaclava', a cheap but effective substitue for which is a
painter's 'Spray Sock' (about 3 bucks).

Next is a shower cap (hotel type) which are as thin a a sandwich bag,
weigh less than a feather, and cost about 1 buck for 6 of them. This
can be used to cover the airholes in your helmet or put over the
balaclava.

After this I put a large sheet of paper, cut from a grocery store sack,
in front of my chest, under my outermost garment.

These few, _CHEAP_, tricks will make a LOT of difference to your
comfort level.

Lewis.

*********************

My problem is anything below ~60F my nose starts running. The colder it
gets the more it runs. Every time I try a balaclava it causes my
glasses to fog up.
What's a poor soul to do :-o

psycholist said:

I agree on all fronts. I'll wear a sleeveless polypropylene
undershirt with a long sleeve jersey, or I'll wear a long-sleeve
polypro shirt with a short sleeve jersey. Over this I'll wear just a
thin "shell" type jacket like Pearl Izumi's Zephyr jacket. All
zipped up, this works into the 30s, but with the jacket stuffed in a
rear jersey pocket, I'm fine in the 50s.

I wear knickers in the 50s, thin tights in the 40s, heavier tights in
the 30s and a pair of really heavy tights with wind panels on the
front when it's in the 20s.

That's all about the same for me, too. However, a vest may be better than a
jacket for keeping the wind off without getting sweaty. Jackets with zip-off
sleeves can be handy too. "Windfront" jerseys are also nice, but a vest
probably works as well.

50s F is good riding weather.

Matt O.

Vitamin C and garlic help alleviate such for me.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My problem is anything below ~60F my nose starts running. The colder it
gets the more it runs. Every time I try a balaclava it causes my
glasses to fog up.
What's a poor soul to do :-o

Thanks, looks worth qa try.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Begin by covering your head.

I use a 'balaclava', a cheap but effective substitue for which is a
painter's 'Spray Sock' (about 3 bucks).

Next is a shower cap (hotel type) which are as thin a a sandwich bag,
weigh less than a feather, and cost about 1 buck for 6 of them. This
can be used to cover the airholes in your helmet or put over the
balaclava.

After this I put a large sheet of paper, cut from a grocery store sack,
in front of my chest, under my outermost garment.

These few, _CHEAP_, tricks will make a LOT of difference to your
comfort level.

Lewis.

*********************

Greg said:

I have been too cold to ride more than about 1.5 hr (normally I like to
ride 2-3 hrs). The weather is only about mid 50's, but a 20 mph wind
chill just makes me want to come in after an hour or so. What is the
best way to dress for this?

I wish it were that warm here!

In that weather I might wear lightweight tights (heavyweight if the wind
were particularly sharp), long sleeve shirt, windproof jacket, lightweight
full finger gloves, and maybe a skullcap or headband for the ears. No
special steps required for the feet, although you can wear warmer socks if
your feet get cold easily. Your headgear requirements may change if you
don't wear a h*lm*t.

The sun keeps you warmer, so you won't need all those clothes if you only
ride during daylight hours.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu
Sat, 18 Dec 2004 23:23:20 -0400

=== Posted with Qusnetsoft NewsReader 3.1 Unregistered

Greg-<< I have been too cold to ride more than about 1.5 hr (normally I like
to ride 2-3 hrs). The weather is only about mid 50's, but a 20 mph
wind chill just makes me want to come in after an hour or so. What is
the best way to dress for this? >><BR><BR>

I say-50 degrees..YGBSM. I rode yesterday when the thermo said 24 degrees.
'Bicke made wid' at 15 mph or so made it below zero.

BUT, I wear synthetic or wool turtleneck, thick, wool, long lseeve jersey,
synthetic vest, Descente jacket. Balcava(sp?), hat with ear flaps, helmet.
Windstopper mittens with synthetic liners. Shoe covers. Not warm but not sold
either. As it warms up, I take stuff off.

Layers is the key. better to be a little warm than a little cold.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

RE/

Quoted message said:

Every time I try a balaclava it causes my
glasses to fog up.
What's a poor soul to do :-o

1-day disposable contacts are my fallback position.
--
PeteCresswell

RE/

Quoted message said:

I have been too cold to ride more than about 1.5 hr (normally I like
to ride 2-3 hrs). The weather is only about mid 50's, but a 20 mph
wind chill just makes me want to come in after an hour or so. What is
the best way to dress for this?

Mid-fifties, my biggest problem is sweat.

For 55 and over, I wear a fairly-heavy, zip-neck poly turtleneck undershirt from
Patagonia; a windbraker vest with mesh back; and, depending on the moment, a
headrag and/or fleece gloves. Just bib riding shorts down below - no pants.
Wearing the turtleneck inside or outside of the bib shorts makes a significant
diff in warmth and I'll change accordingly....

Under 55, I add a pair of cargo pants over the shorts and somewhere around 50 I
replace the mesh-backed vest with a GorTex rain jacket and start carrying a
lightweight balaclava for use when needed.

Much under 40, I come home coughing my brains out...so this year I've resolved
to do weight training on those days.
--
PeteCresswell

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Next is a shower cap (hotel type) which are as thin a a sandwich bag,
weigh less than a feather, and cost about 1 buck for 6 of them. This
can be used to cover the airholes in your helmet or put over the
balaclava.

From three years ago, posted on rbm:

---
I read here the suggestion of wearing a shower cap over a helmet in the
rain. I would like to now report my experience in trying this, for the
benefit of all who have considered it. There are three factors:

1. Effectiveness in keeping head dry. It performed marvelously. I have a
cheap helmet with only a few vents, so rain leaking in wasn't a huge
problem, but it was still noticeably drier to use the shower cap. I could
also put the shower cap over the seat while it was sitting on the bike rack
on the bus (elastic kept it on, even at freeway speeds) or when walking the
bike, and keep the seat dry as well.

2. Noise. I didn't expect this. At about 30 mph the thing started to flap
noisily. At 35 mph + the thing was going thwappa-thwappa-thwappa so loud all
normal auditory cues were completely obliterated. I do not recommend wearing
a shower cap if you have a lot of steep hills to descend for safety reasons.

3. Dweeb factor. You gotta admit, wearing a shower cap in public, even for a
good reason, makes you look totally ridiculous. I don't mind looking totally
ridiculous, so I was able to cope. However, when I got to my children's
school, I took it off. It's one thing for me to humiliate myself, another to
humiliate my children. They still think it is cool to have mom meet them at
school on the bike. It might be another thing to have mom meet them at
school on a bike wearing a shower cap.

Conclusion: considering that ...
a. I got the shower cap free with my night at the Ramada Inn
b. its weight and size is negligible
.... I think that keeping it in my bike bag is worth it for those rainy-day
commuter trips.
---

--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Greg said:

I have been too cold to ride more than about 1.5 hr (normally I like
to ride 2-3 hrs). The weather is only about mid 50's, but a 20 mph
wind chill just makes me want to come in after an hour or so. What is
the best way to dress for this?

I've ridden when it's been -10 deg C (14 deg F) wearing a jersey, a thin
fleece, a woolly (OK, acrylic) hat, gloves, shorts and tights. I was
warm enough but my water bottle froze outside the cafe stop. On that
occasion I wasn't wearing overshoes, but they do make life much nicer in
anything below 10 deg C.

What to wear really depends on how hard you ride and whether you ride
"hot" like I do (I'm dripping sweat after 2 miles even when it's below
zero).

Quoted message said:

My problem is anything below ~60F my nose starts running. The colder it
gets the more it runs. Every time I try a balaclava it causes my
glasses to fog up.
What's a poor soul to do :-o

You clear your nose in the rather disgusting roadie way, i.e. hold one
nostril shut and blow the other one over your shoulder. Not recommended
if you're at the front of a group.

[email hidden] wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

My problem is anything below ~60F my nose starts running. The
colder it gets the more it runs. Every time I try a balaclava it
causes my glasses to fog up.
What's a poor soul to do :-o

Wear the balaclava but connect your nose to your glasses so the drip
will clear up the fogging.

Zog The Undeniable said:

(I'm dripping sweat after 2 miles even when it's below
zero).

I also sweat when riding in cold weather. What clothing is most
comfortable when wet? How can I measure a garment's cold weather
comfort? I tried to measure how fast different cycling clothes dry, but
came to no conclusion.

Here are some photos and measurements I took:
http://www.geocities.com/almost_fast/dry/
Questions and comments welcome.

Quoted message said:

I also sweat when riding in cold weather. What clothing is most
comfortable when wet? How can I measure a garment's cold weather
comfort? I tried to measure how fast different cycling clothes dry, but
came to no conclusion.

Wearing any "windproof" nylon or even Gore-tex jacket will trap moisture.
It's best to just wear a jersey that will breathe. If that's not warm
enough, wear a vest that's open on the sides and back, or a jacket with
vents in back and under the arms. And adjust the front zipper based on you
warm/cold you feel. I'll open the jacket's zipper on climbs and close it on
descents.

No fabric will dry on you once it gets wet. You want something next to your
skin that will wick moisture away and transfer it to the outer layer where
it will evaporate. Wool and some of the synthetic fabrics are good at
wicking.

Art Harris