Winter Cycling - How long is your typical winter ride?

There are some people on these forums riding in some pretty extreme cold conditions. It leads me to wonder...

How long are you typically in the elements on a given ride?

Going inside at any point, restarts the clock. This poll just addresses the amount of continuous time that you are typically riding in extreme cold. It also only addresses AIR TEMP not WIND CHILL.

When I go riding, it for at least 2 hours to make it worthwhile.

When I commute, its only for 25 minutes each way... However I can say I have been riding pretty much 5 days a week, since last Winter :)

I had to choose 45-60 because the majority of my rides at those temps are commuting and you didn't allow multiple choice.

I had to choose 45-60 because the majority of my rides at those temps are commuting and you didn't allow multiple choice.


What chip said.


If my commute takes longer than an hour, things have gotten ugly.



On mountain bike rides longer than 2 hours I use chemical weapons to keep my feet warm.

Between slower tires and much more obstruction, it takes me almost twice as long to do my commute in the winter.

1 hr is my limit. However, with snow on the ground my limit is 0 minutes. My response is related to cold temps.

+1 However, I try to keep it under that because the return ride later in the day is just as long.

During the summer my commute is just under an hour each way.
Now that the roads are covered in buttermilk biscuit flakes it takes me upwards of 1.5 hours, thus I chose 60-90.
Once the real cold weather (10oF to -25oF) kicked in my commute times became longer as well, even when the roads were clear.
For some reason I can't push myself to more than a steady 10mph with 12-13mph bursts when the air is that cold.
Today, however, it took me a little over 2 hours to get to work. The snow drifts on the bike path were well over 5ft deep and I ended up walking a total of about 3 of my 12 miles to work.

Just about 60 minutes for me. sometimes longer if there's a lot of slush & snow on the road. Tuesday's ride was around 4F - right before the storm arrived here in Buffalo!

In the summer it takes me about 20 min.
In the cold it can take from 25-35 min.

Down to +10F I can do my entire 25mi commute without going inside and it's takes between 2 and 3+ hours (depends on road conditions). Down to 0F it depends on the chemical toe warmers and whether I tied my boots too tight... Below 0F my tolerance is in the 60 - 90 minute range.

(Best summer 25mi time is 76 minutes, 19mph avg.)

Oops! I should have put 30-45 minutes... Oh well. In the summer my commute is about 25 minutes and in winter it's about 35 minutes (no snow) to 45 minutes (snow). Coldest commute so far is -25 or so C (windchill was colder - but if you are riding at any speed that creates it's own windchill), but I have done about 8 commutes since jan 23 in sub -10 C temperatures).

I would count -20 C or lower as extreme temperature - that is -4 F.

Our winter rides last 2 to 3 hours, it usually takes about an hour before your body adjusts to the cold.

as much as i swore to ride this winter ive only gone back and forth to work with is about 3 miles each way. pitty me

On winter weekends we typically ride for 90-120 minutes minimum before hitting any stops; total ride is usually anywhere from 3-5 hours. When I'm commuting it's 50-60 minutes non-stop each way (that really doesn't change with the season). And just last week (February 8-12) we rode non-stop for 4-8 hours every day for five days straight

of course, we were on vacation in Arizona...