What was your coldest ride?

[Gojohnnygo.]

My cold ride was in Jan 2000 temp hit -14F with 10 to 15mph head winds it was a very cold ride, but after about 3miles I felt warmer but not much.

[RegularGuy]

-20 F and windy. It was snowing hard. The fat flakes coming at me looked like the old star wars screensaver. I rode on a canal towpath and wore every bit of warm clothing that I owned. I rode about 3 miles, got scared ("If I flatted now, I would freeze to death trying to change the tire!"), and rode back. I gained two important things from this experience.

1. No matter what the weather is like, I can shrug and say, "I've ridden in worse.

2. I never have to do it again.

[tchazzard]

5 F and no wind....late night. Was a wonderful night of riding. Today was 14 F and 15-30 MPH gusts....I just could not convince myself to hop on the bike. Oh God...give me strength. :-)

[Gojohnnygo.]

Originally posted by RegularGuy
-20 F and windy. It was snowing hard. The fat flakes coming at me looked like the old star wars screensaver. I rode on a canal towpath and wore every bit of warm clothing that I owned. I rode about 3 miles, got scared ("If I flatted now, I would freeze to death trying to change the tire!"), and rode back. I gained two important things from this experience.

1. No matter what the weather is like, I can shrug and say, "I've ridden in worse.

2. I never have to do it again. :) More power to you that ride must have been a wild one.:beer:

[Arsbars]

12 degrees this morning, on the water with the wind against me the whole time. :( it royally sucked

[Michel Gagnon]

Originally posted by RegularGuy
-20 F and windy. It was snowing hard. .... I gained two important things from this experience.

1. No matter what the weather is like, I can shrug and say, "I've ridden in worse.

2. I never have to do it again.


A few other lessons I have learned from a similar experience:

3. Unless you are going on a long downhill, it's the blinding snow that is more of a problem. Safety glasses are a must.

4. By the time it's that cold again, you will actually want to ride it again.


P.S. Today was -15 C (a little above )F) and not snowing. I did a detour to see the partly frozen Rivière-des-Prairies. Gorgeous white smoke...

Regards,

[mike]

With wind chill, the temperature was -40 degrees F (-40 C)It was terribly cold. I think the mercury was around -14 F (-26C). It was record cold.

It was frightfully cold when facing it head on.

My wife took the attached photo of me going to work that day. I was a little nervous taking off - and for good reason. I could literally feel the stitch lines in my jacket it was so cold. My feet froze about 1 mile before I got to work. If it had been two miles, I wouldn't have made it.

Now, if it gets below about 5 F (-15 C), I don't bicycle. Fortunately, we have not had those kind of temperatures in recent years.

[D*Alex]

OK, I'll give you my money.................

[nathank]

my coldest rides haven't been soo extreme...

i've commuted quite a few of times in -15 to -10 C (5 to 14F) in Massachusetts in 2000 and Munich in 2001. and then 2-3 days in Munich last year we had temps near -20C (-4F) during a very cold week in December 2001.

in Mass i did a few 2-3 hr rides in the 15 to 20F (-15 to -6C) range where my feet got super cold from wading in snow...

unless we get unusual weather here in Munich i probably won't ride in anything colder this year as it rarely gets below -15C here.

although i'm more prepared now with winter bike shoes (Gaerne Polar boots), neoprene overshoes, gore-tex wind/waterproof socks, windproof/fleece pants, multiple windproof jersey/jackets/vests, windproof headband, windproof fleece faceguard, ski goggles, snowboard gloves, etc. + my studded snow tires!

[Juha]

Somewhere around -30C, without the windchill effect.

I think you have mainly two worries at those temperatures, one of which is regulating your body temperature (wearing enough clothes to stay warm and yet not get sweaty). I usually get too warm, unless I ride r e a l l y slow. So I carry some dry clothing, take a break in a cafeteria, have a cup of tea and change clothes.

The other worry is your bike's mechanics. Gears and brakes work well at first, but develop an awkward delay later on. A flat in the summer is annoying, a flat in the winter is murder. Your light's battery (rated burn time impressive 120+ mins or whatever) runs out of juice pathetically after 15 mins or so. Your bike comp is pretty much useless.

Bright side: no mosqitoes!

--J

[mtessmer]

My coldest ride was -24 F with winds at 15-20 mph. The bike was pretty stiff so I had to work a little harder but that kept my warmer. Over all I stayed fairly warm but my feet didn't fair well. Actually I've done a few of these over the years, it's not all that unusual here in Minnesota... it's not my favorite though.

[Merriwether]

~ -15F real temperature, some wind.

Around -10F a few times. Between 0F and -10F many times.

A significant difference between -15F and somewhere less than -10F. The additional cold really got my attention. I heard lines from Jack London stories repeated unbidden in my mind that morning.

Juha and I don't agree about everything, as posts on the Touring forum attest, but I agree with him about the pains of riding in those temperatures.

I had to change a tire once at somewhere around -5F. That was a drag.

I love riding in the cold. It's invigorating.

I don't think motorists have seen any cyclists at night around here except me, ever. In bitter cold they view me as some kind of extreme daredevil.

[mtessmer]

I'm sorry, I ment actual temp of -24 F, the wind brought it down lower then that .

[Chris L]

Well, my coldest ever ride was only around -4C, and I had to go into the mountains for that one! (it's never got below zero here on the Gold Coast). It just simply never gets cold here. Heck, the "coldest" I've had this week would have been about 26C. :eek:

[bikerider]

Coldest day was during the winter of 99/00 as a bike courier.

It was cold.

[Mikey C]

Jeez Mike, you and I are so much the same it's scaring me. BTW, whereabouts in the midwest do you live? I'm comin from Woodbury, Minnesota.

I'd have to say the coldest day I've ridden in was probably this last Wednsday. It was about 4 F and 10mph winds. Chilly, but I am expecting much worse over this coming winter. Luckily I only have about 5 miles to get to school, so I'm only out there for about 20 minutes. Plus I have all the necessary equipment to stay warm. I just wish my goggles wouldn't fog so much. Anyone know of a good pair I should buy?

[mike]

Cool pic, MikeyC. I live about five hours away from you, but we share the same weather.

Maybe we do have a lot in common. My present helmet is white too and I wear a yellow jacket! Yikes.

[SamDaBikinMan]

I cannot remember the actual temperature but I rode once in the mountains of North Carolina during freezing rain. We had to stop from time to time and breath on our shifters and brake levers to thaw them so they would operate. Yes I actually had a friend who was insane enough to go along.

[Merriwether]

Originally posted by Mikey C
I just wish my goggles wouldn't fog so much. Anyone know of a good pair I should buy?

You might try a search, as goggles have been discussed a lot here.

For what it's worth, I use cheaper-than-dirt plastic lab goggles. ~$5. Replacement lenses for like $3.

I got them at

www.labsafety.com

They're "visorgogs".

They are great. No fogging, but they keep my eyes warm and snow free.

After I bought one pair and a replacement lens, I got several thousand page glossy color catalogs. Labsafety lost money on that deal, I'm afraid.

[Gojohnnygo.]

:) It was -19F When I left the house this mourning at 3 am. But the road empty.

[Gojohnnygo.]

:thumbup: Thanks to everyone who has posted. It makes me feel better that I'm not alone.VERY COOL PICS TO.

[MsVicki]

All these stories sound like horror stories to me! I guess the coldest ride I have ever had was when it was right at freezing, and I was too much of a sissy to stay out in it long.

East Texas just doesn't get that cold. Has only snowed here twice in the last 15 years! Oh, and there was one really bad ice storm a few years ago..... It is pretty much great riding weather all the time here.

[Andy Dreisch]

29 degrees (F). That's it. Just 29 degrees. Boring, I know.

I'd love to ride in the snow once. That'd be pretty cool. Just once, though.

[velocipedio]

My coldest was about -10C. The temp wasn't too bad, but the wind was about 30 km/h and went right through me. Oone descent home, I got up to about 60 km/h into the 30 km/h wind. It wasn't a long descent... but I couldn't feel my hands afterward, despite my winter gloves.

[Spire]

Mine is about -4 or -5C. Wasn't too cold on that ride though....

[KrisA]

This morning was my coldest yet, -21C (-6F). The only things that got cold were my feet, might invest in some good socks this weekend.

[roadrage]

Mike and MikeyC - Cool, I'm from Prior Lake, MN. I ride all winter(on weekends). It has been a great winter so far for riding, huh? Although, it
seems this weekend will be a colder one, but I'll be out there. Good to hear others are out there too. It gets a little lonely at times it seems :)

BTW- I also have a white helmet(2 of them actually), but the winter jacket is black/yellow :)

[Natophelia]

Only somewhere in the 30's. I'm not sure that it even got to freezing. I don't think it's gotten much below that yet this winter.

[Gojohnnygo.]

I just had to try this today I went for a 12 mile ride.It was -33F below zero(near Saranac Lake, NY USA) when I left the house early today.I had 10-15 mph winds.I had no goggles so my tears had frozen to my face and then melted as soon as I walked inside this was very strange.

[Machka]

-22C/-8F with a windchill of -32C/-24F

[jacques]

probably today,-24,windy. My black lab supported me,he grew a white frozen goatie while running,but always managed to run as fast as the bike.We went around the lake,wich is about 7 km.I wasnt cold,but i sweated so much.You dont see much people outside.Only motorists watching me as if i was a moskito in the middle of a storm. The seat was so cold and hard ,my but feels a bit numb. Its now time for a hot chokolate .

[Machka]

And then there was that century I did in February.

The day started at -32C and reached a high of -20C. Brrrr!

Don't think I would ever do a century like that again.

[lsd87]

-5 and windy...after about 1 1/4 hrs I was an ice mound

[Chris L]

All I know is that morning in Black Duck Creek Valley absolutely slaughered my previous coldest of -4C. I didn't bother to find out the exact temperature - I don't think I really want to know.

[pinerider]

Chris - Not to say that you deserve almost freezing to death, but... I do recall some of your posts last winter (our winter up here, your summer down there) in which you almost seemed to mock our cold temperatures. A little justice perhaps? :p

Any idea of what the temp actually was? I've found that underestimating the cold when temperatures are around 0 C (especially when it is damp and/or windy) feels far colder than dressing warmly for -15 C. What were you wearing?

[FreeRider69]

my coldest ride was in quebec at my dad's house during the big ice storm in '98. our whole back field was pure ice about 5 inches thick and we had no power so i went for a ride with studded tires on my giant iguana se. it was -45 degrees in canadian measurment. it was so cold my spit froze be for it hit the ground, anyways thats my big story. see ya

[Chris L]

Originally posted by pinerider
Chris - Not to say that you deserve almost freezing to death, but... I do recall some of your posts last winter (our winter up here, your summer down there) in which you almost seemed to mock our cold temperatures. A little justice perhaps? :p

Any idea of what the temp actually was? I've found that underestimating the cold when temperatures are around 0 C (especially when it is damp and/or windy) feels far colder than dressing warmly for -15 C. What were you wearing?

Put it this way: When I did the -4C a few years back - I did it in two thin layers without any problems.

On Sunday (I think) I had three layers on, and it felt worse.

[belfast-biker]

Biking on a 125cc scooter 100miles from Belfast to Dublin at 4am in the morning, freezing cold night, wind howling, pissing rain, floods under bridges, visor had to stay open coz I couldn't see otherwise, all to meet my wife for the second time ever when she was tearsome. Gear I had at the time was awful too, cheap everything, not suitable for even a light drizzle.


That was Gods way of saying "Don't even go there", the b-i-t-c-h.

:p

[Gojohnnygo.]

Originally posted by Chris L
Put it this way: When I did the -4C a few years back - I did it in two thin layers without any problems.

On Sunday (I think) I had three layers on, and it felt worse. Riding in cold temps is something you have to acclimate yourself to.Take it slow or it will bite you in the @$$.