Commuting - How low can you go?

I'm still new to commuting (11 weeks) and have yet to experience any really cold weather. Most of my 11 weeks have included 35-40 degree mornings and 55-60 degree afternoons. It was 27 F. when I rode in this morning and that's my record low so far. It was 17 degrees yesterday morning but I didn't ride because I always drive in the first morning of the week.
Have any of you set minimum ride temperatures? A few weeks ago I thought I would not ride below 30 degrees, now I'm thinking 20 (just need to get better gloves and something to keep my glasses from fogging).

Originally posted by spininin
I'm still new to commuting (11 weeks)...

Have any of you set minimum ride temperatures? A few weeks ago I thought I would not ride below 30 degrees, now I'm thinking 20 (just need to get better gloves and something to keep my glasses from fogging).
Congratulations on your commuting!

When I was commuting I rode at least twice in 2º F. (roughly -16º C.) temperature and while I can't say it was the most enjoyable thing I ever did,* at 5 miles each way it was quite bearable. I never set any minimum temperature, but judged conditions day by day. Ice was the big excluding factor.

A silk balaclava was a big help, though it tended to fog up my glasses (I won't ride without lenses, amber or blue depending on the light). Thinsulate-insulated gloves are great. Good Neoprene booties do wonders for chilly feet and keep moderate amounts of moisture away from shoes. "Wind-front" tights highly recommended. I cut the bill off an old ball cap and used the bill-less cap under my helmet and that was comfortable too.

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* The most enjoyable thing I ever did? Why, sending my DONATION :) in to Bike Forums, of course!

Have you factored in the wind chill? If you are riding 12 to 15 miles per hour in 30 degree weather, the will chill will be around 0. I commuted this morning, and it was 8 degrees above zero. It wasn't that bad. Put vasoline on your lips and cheeks, and you'll be fine.

spininin,
Welcome to BF from a neighbor in Atlanta.

I guess I'm a weenie but anything below 40°F is too cold for me.
I'm not like nebill who rides to work on 26°F mornings and "enjoys" it. I guess you have to live in that kind of climate for a long time to get used to it. I've lived in the South (Florida, Georgia, Alabama) most of my life.

I tried riding last weekend when the sun was high in the sky and the temp was 41°F and got COLD. My feet were cold and my finger tips were cold (so much for Pearl Izumi Pittards being good for cold weather).
I can't put on any more layers and feel comfortable while I'm riding. I guess I'll be riding in the living room until it gets warmer.

Hopefully the sun will set after 6:30 pm the same time the temperature gets warmer. :) Then I can start commuting again, 'cause I sure miss riding to work. :cry: So does my waistline. :eek:

A F Baker:
Yes, I know wind chill very well. My ride in is mostly downhill (therefore uphill going home...ugh) and on one section I've hit 43 mph. This morning I didn't go over 30 because it was so cold. I've tried to get as windproof as I can but still need to make more adjustments.

RonH:
Howdy, neighbor. My wife lived in Atlanta while we were dating so I spent a lot of time over there between '87 and '89. I bought my first mountain bike at FreeFlight. When driving over from Birmingham, I used to enjoy topping that hill on I-20 where the Atlanta skyline first comes into view. Nice town...nice memories.

In my effort to get remotivated.. I bought some cold weather gear that seems to be very good. www.underarmour.com . Pricey to be sure (I bought the shirt, my legs should be working, and thus warm.. as for my "other" exposed things, they've done nothing but get me into trouble.. ;) ) however, I've not used it yet. I can let you know.

I usually will ride inside instead of outside if the temperature goes below 25 (w/o wind-chill)

The coldest conditions I ever rode in were -4 degrees C (about 26F - and did it only wearing two layers). The thing was, I actually went looking for that in the mountains because the Gold Coast has never clocked a temperature that low in the time weather has been measured here.

Our biggest thing is the other extreme. I have done quite a few rides in temps exceeding 40C with humidity making it feel even hotter. My best so far was 47C (118F) on a day in December '99. :eek: The way this summer is looking, that may yet be broken in the near future.

Hey, did I hear my name mentioned??

I rode to work last week, and it had warmed up to 18F when I arrived. I wore the following: my helmet with an industrial hard hat liner underneath. Safety goggles (looks really stupid, but keeps my eyes warm, and they don't tear) a long sleeve t-shirt under an un-insulated wind breaker, biker shorts under biker tights. The tights are the ones that are thick at the front, and thin on the rear to let excessive heat out. Heavy socks with leather mountain biking shoes. Wool gloves worn over the top of my fingerless biking gloves. When I roll ol' Blue out from the house, it feels cool, but by the time I have pedalled a block, I am starting to warm up. By the time I get to work, not only have I stayed warm, but I have actually worked up a sweat! Not only that, but I have been making some of the fastest rides of the year, so I am having a blast!

With company visiting and the holiday, things have been upsidedown around here, so no riding at all this week. But, the company leaves tomorrow, so I will get in at least one nice road ride this weekend!!

How low can I go? Don't know, it hasn't got there yet! I guess the low temps don't bother me as much as the 30+ mph winds we get around here in the winter!

Welcome to the forums, Spinnin, and you might want to try out the safety goggles, they really do help!

One of my few personal rules is no riding under 0 F. The first thing to get uncomfortable is my toes, and that's no good. Hate to lose one of them.

Bought some anti-fog stuff for my glasses yesterday and, wow, what a difference. Nice to be able to see at stoplights and on long uphills.
Good idea about the goggles...the teary eyes have been a problem. I have some old ski goggles that will work.

I don't have anti-fog glasses or ski goggles, but I have learned a few tricks since the last winter season on the bike.
-If you wear glasses and don't wish to buy special glasses, all you have to do is wash your own glasses with hand soap (soft soap) before you leave the house. Your glasses will only fog when you re-enter your house.
-Put vasoline on your lips and cheeks. Vasoline also helps on another part of your body that tends to shrink when it gets cold. :D
-Keep your head and ears warm under your helmet.
-I don't have this, but if you ride in cold weather you should have knee warmers. The colder your knees get while you are exercising, the greater the chance of developing arthritis in the knees.
-keep your toes warm with non-venelated shoes.
-I'm sure I don't have to mention anything about keeping your fingers warm.

Check out this website for more information:
http://www.icebike.com

i'll commute when it's below freezing as long as it's not too icy. black ice is a real pain the *ss... um, literally. if you fall off your bike.

it usually doesn't go below low F30s here, but when it does i trade the regular gloves for claw-fingered ones and put on both neoprene socks & booties. i also use a neck warmer and a skull cap (actually i use the cap if it's below F40-45). the neck warmer is nice because you can alternate having it over your mouth/nose or not, when that's fogging up your glasses.

i ride in the winter with a pair of $5 safety goggles with clear lenses. the optics are crappy but if i sit on them i won't freak (you can't say that if you have bolles).

i'm not above plastic baggies in the booties either - when it's cold enough. don't try this trick in warm weather, your feet will hate it.

ride on,
junebride

Sweat is my biggest problem, even in 20 degrees F.

As long as I keep moving, I don't have any problems (I even overheat a bit.) If I stop for very long, I have to change some upper body garments and swap them for drier ones to keep warm.

A windbreaker is very important to keep the chill out.

(I find the cold quite invigorating, actually! :D )

I went on an hourlong ride today in the 15 F windy weather today. Just about wrecked myself, too. I wouldn't get above 15mph (and didn't care). When I came home, I had a staglatite forming under the nose of my bankrobber mask. (Ick.) The really disturbing thing is that I had condensation between my windbreaker and my fleece. The inner layers did their thing: A dry jersey and wicked sweat on my wooly.

-3c is the lowest so far...

Richard

I've commuted down to about -10C, and for my trip of 40 min or so it was OK, with a mixture of fleece and windstopping garments for my upper body with shorts and lycra tights for my legs.

For a much longer time I'd have to do something for my feet though, I think I'd try going with pedals and straps and warmer boots instead of clipless, (as per someone elses suggestion).

I used a fairly thin pair of fleece gloves but for longer rides or colder temps I'd use something thicker, or two pairs.

I have commuted at temperatures as low as 0F, but that's D@MN COLD!

It was 5 above zero this morning during my commute, and the only place on my body that was cold was right under my eyes. I didn't put vasoline on that place on my face, and it was cold. I wore regular jeans with nothing else against my legs. However, my commute takes me 5.5 minutes if I ride at an easy pace. I don't think I really have to worry too much about getting cold.

When I was in Calgary, the arbitrary limit I set was -25C (-13F) excluding wind chill. Every morn I'd ring the number that told me what the temperature was going to be. -25C or above and I'd be getting out the environment suit.

The important thing, as always, is to dress right. I don't know how low I could have gone if I really had a reason to ride, but at this stage of my life I wasn't working and had to ride to stave off the boredom. I think three days was the longest I went without putting at least an hour in on the bike.

I didn't have a lot of expensive gear, but what I had was effective: Layers I used (from skin out) - polyproylene short sleeve shirt and long-johns, thin socks. Next a normal cycling jersey, MEC winter riding pants (thickish lycra on the back, gore-tex on the front) and Explorer socks. Over the jersey went a borrowed winter coat (not a cycling specific coat, just the sort of thing you'd pick up at K-Mart). Neoprene booties over the shoes, and $10 ski gloves (the fancy lobster claw gloves were expensive, and I actually found the gloves I had to be too warm sometimes). Under the helmet I wore a polarfleece hat pulled over my ears, and a fleece face mask - only my eyes were 'exposed' and they were covered my the Briko sunnies I had at the time. Fogging was only a problem when I stopped.

With this lot I'd be quite comfortable for rides of an hour or more. In fact, I'd find I'd be opening the jacket for a few minutes to cool off at the top of the Shaganappi Trail climb (and close it RIGHT UP for the descent). The only bits that ever got cold was my feet, although I never got frostbite fortunately. There were a few ideas that I never tried - aluminium foil around the toes and between the sock leayers (shiny side in of course), and Gore-tex socks for the expensive option. Newspaper is also apparently a good insulator. You could put a few sheets between shirt layers against your chest for that little bit extra warmth when the mercury really drops.

The other problem I had was water. It freezes in about 3 minutes in those temps. Even when I put hot tap water in it's freeze before the ride was over. I do recommend putting hot water in your bottle btw. Your body's fighting hard enough to keep warm without adding cooling agents like cold water to it. And at -25C it actually seems to taste better. another tip. If your water bottle does start to freeze up, stick it down your shirt for a while.

The 0% humidity probably helped too.

Nowadays I have to deal with the same high temps as ChrisL, and the trouble with that is there is only so much you can do to cool down on a ride. It's a lot easier to dress up for the cold. After the ride to work today at lunchtime (even the wind was hot), I'm starting to envy you northerers.

Originally posted by junebride
i'll commute when it's below freezing as long as it's not too icy. black ice is a real pain the *ss... um, literally. if you fall off your bike.

it usually doesn't go below low F30s here, but when it does i trade the regular gloves for claw-fingered ones and put on both neoprene socks & booties. i also use a neck warmer and a skull cap (actually i use the cap if it's below F40-45). the neck warmer is nice because you can alternate having it over your mouth/nose or not, when that's fogging up your glasses.

i ride in the winter with a pair of $5 safety goggles with clear lenses. the optics are crappy but if i sit on them i won't freak (you can't say that if you have bolles).

i'm not above plastic baggies in the booties either - when it's cold enough. don't try this trick in warm weather, your feet will hate it.

ride on,
junebride

Junebride, you are a true winter commuter! Glad to have you in our ranks.

I LOVE riding on ice! its a rush lol

then again, i have been on the snow in minneapolis every year for a long time. :)

20 degrees F below Zero

Ride Warm
Pat

Coldest so far, 5F = -15C.

Well i can't say i have any REALLY cold experience, but lots in the just below freezing in the -10C to 0C (14-32F) and a little colder to about -15C(5F)...

for me the most important are hands and FEET. i have neoprene shoe covers in addition to warm skiing socks and speical winter mountain bike shoes with think lining that cover ankle. i don't think i could ride in the cold w/o my shoe covers (i have cold hands/feet problems).

for gloves i wear my snowboarding lobster gloves with polypro liners underneath.

wind is a concern, but i have windproof jersey, windproof fleece, windproof cycling tights... so except for maybe the nose, i don't find wind a limiting factor...

snow isn't a problem (i bought special commuter snow tires with metal studs only on the outside for turning but don't rub on cement when it's dry)

ice, even with my tires, can be a problem, but usually only where cars have melted it down and it's refrozen. in November i took a fall riding at night on ice refrozen from cars (i had been on a bike path with snow) which is why i bought the studded tires this year.

for everywhere i've lived (Portland OR, Massachusetts and Munich Germany) it's never been too cold to ride, but i would guess that for me , anything under 0F(-18C) might be too cold b/C that's about the temperature when i don't like to go for a walk outside (since i'm not used to it -- mabe the Minnesota or Canadian guys can hack it).

in general, you generate so much heat cycling, if you can keep the wind out and add a little insulation, you're be a lot warmer than you would think. Of course, those first 5 minutes when it's windy and below freezing are cold - then i usually have to stop and take off a layer and unzip b/c i'm sweating so much...