Subscribe
How cold is it?
by Richard MasonerThanks for the tremendous response on if you plan to ride over the winter or not. I saw a lot of great questions that I hope to investigate over the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, the U.S. national weather report shows rain and snow over much of the U.S. Midwest today. I’m supposed to have a high of 90° F where I’m at near Santa Cruz, California today, but I know many of you are donning cold weather gear for the first real storm of the winter season.
What was the temperature when you left this morning for work? Were your neighbors scraping ice from their windshields?
My coldest ride was in Champaign, Illinois in the early 90s. It was forty degrees below zero when I left for work one morning.
17 F this a.m. so I went with lotsa layers. Fingers were chilly between 5-15 minutes out there, but then they got warm. I have a cannondale full finger glove on the left hand and a Lands-End glove on the right hand, both of ‘em under some Liz Claiborne novelty holiday knit gloves. The two layers seem to do the job, but I do gots to get out and get some spares. I don’t know if thicker would be warmer and I’m not sure I want to sacrifice the dexterity.
It was fairly constant at 38-39F for my 30 mile lesiure ride this morning. I wore, a poly shirt, windbreaker, cycling shorts, sweatpants, socks and trainers. I did sweat quite a bit. To get to lectures, unless it’s raining hard, I tend to just go out in what I wear around the house which is jeans and a hoodie. On very wet days, I add a waterproof jacket. The lowest I’ve cycled in was 34F, and I was toasty in jeans, hoodie, hat and gloves. 25-30F is about as low as it gets over here.
-5 degrees F this morning in Omaha. Windchill was -21 F. Only my toes got cold in my 35 minute ride.
In total from polypro baselayer and shirts, ending with fleece sweatshirt under a windbreaker shell, I had nine layers on the top. That sounds like a lot, but with the exception of the fleece, the layers are all very thin, so I didn’t look too bulky.
The bottom was AmFIB tights, polypro baselayer on top of that, then loose workout pants.
For feet I had wool socks, handwarmers on top of the toes, then cotton socks, plastic bag corners, then sneakers. The chemical handwarmers on the feet quickly quit working, as they need air to sustain the chemical reaction.
Hands were kept warm polypro glove liners with handwarmers on the back of the hand, then Louis Garneau lobster claw gloves. My hands never felt cold.
On my head I had a fleece balaclava over head and mouth (nose exposed), then polopro balaclava over top of head and ears. I taped up the vents on my helmet.
Except for the cold feet, it was an exciting and refreshing ride.
It was 28°F (-2°C) this morning. It was also misting. More than fog, but not quite drizzle. It actually wasn’t all that bad.
I wore cycling shorts with a long-sleeve t-shirt. Over that I had a pair of baggy sweat pants (all I have). On top I wore a heavy jacket with a hood. I was just fine, perfectly warm except for my feet. The Chuck Taylors I was wearing didn’t insulate a whole lot.
It’s supposed to be in the mid-70’s by the end of the week.
12 degrees this morning, but less wind than yesterday. Tights, looser layer and sweats under the smarttex pants; similar on top with socks and shoes and balaclava. I got warm enough to be overdressed if this were a longer ride, but it’s only 7 miles.
Well this morning was -8 F. A bit chilly. Long running tights with a windbreaker pant (my old climbing pants), wool socks, wool long underwear with a wool icebreaker sweater and a windbreaker. Wool mits, hat, and facemask round out the appaerel. The real trick is putting on layers and leaving the building before I start to sweat.