General Cycling Discussion - temp falling: tend to over or under dress?!

i always tend to overdress or not ride at all. i ride almost exclusively early in the morning, and here in the upper midwest its starting to get to 50 in am's.

Contrary to what many suggest, skip helmet liners until much cooler. 50 is what arm & knee warmers were made for. If you can't afford them, get soccer socks (I recommend wool) & cut the toe off. Slide them on your arms just like putting them on your feet. When you warm up they are easy to pull off. The other approach is a wind-breaker with removable sleeves. I find the 40 to 50 range to be the toughest to dress for too.

I find that a long sleeve jersey that is fairly wind resistant works well. My Paramo mountainshirt has plenty of poppers so rolling the sleeves up and opening the neck low are easy to do.
A windproof gillet (sleeveless vest) is usefull, or a summer weight wind proof. These dont need to be quite as resistant as winter-weight ones.
Over knee cycling "shorts" are ideal at this temp, but I use thin leggings.

Sometimes you can get comfortable by using leggings with a short-sleved jersy, or long sleved jersey and shorts.

I usually overdress until the temps stabilize. Normally, I try to dress so that I'm slightly chilled before I start the ride. That way, I won't overheat too much.

The key, for me anyway, is wind protectio -- particularlu body core and hands. I wear a wind vest below about 15C if there's any hint of a breeze.