General Cycling Discussion - What's cold to you?

Don't forget to post your location and opinions of wimps in the South! ;)

I said, "10 - 20." That's my wimp-out point, but I'm a little crazy, so don't count me out, ever! (Of course, it almost never gets that cold down here! :eek: )

My eyeballs cry on the downhills when it's cold. I'm not crying, but you knew that, didn't you?

Sorry! Here are the Celsius temperatures, as converted from Frigginheit, er, Fahrenheit:

50F to 60F / 10C to 15.5C
40F to 50F / 4.4C to 10C
30F to 40F / -1.1C to 4.4C
20F to 30F / -6.7C to -1.1C
10F to 20F / -12.2C to -6.7C
0F to 10F / -17.8C to -12.2C
Below this, there are no exact conversions, but I'd still like to meet your Mama!

:D

I would rather cold than wet. :mad:

Cheers...Gary

Cold is a figment of my imagination. It's not really cold, I just think it is. I will not allow the elements of nature to dominate my wild spirit. Therefore I know no cold.




But my hands, feet, eyes, and nose do!!!

Temperature alone is no guide to comfort, without taking into account humidity. Damp cold is much worse than dry cold.
The worst conditions I have ever cycled in is freezing rain. This water at freezing point. I was wearing non-breathable waterproofs and plastic bags over my socks, and managed to cycle without too many problems.

A part of the reason we live here, is for perfect weather. Don't like it hot or cold. Can tolerate about 45 but, really prefer it over 60, jackets what are those for? Don't like heat either. Go inland it gets hot here. Won't cycle over 96. But inland heat is a dry heat, so I can take it that hot. Here almost every day of the year, it will get to at least 60 each day of the year. Perfect for cycling. Sorry.

I know it's cold when I have a lot of snow on my mustache. Other than that, it's just "do I use my spiked tires" or not.

My commute is Flawil<->St. Gallen in Switzerland. The coldest ride so far in 2002 was -15 C or so.

ride safely,
tt

Its weird that people associate riding a bike with wearing shorts and short sleeved jersey, whatever the whether. Most of the year I wear a windproof, some insulation and long trousers or leggings.
On many charity rides, I see the experienced riders packing their extra clothing, and novices hoping to complete the course in shorts and T shirt.

Having lived in South Africa for 5 years
I find I have less tolerance for cold than
I did before. Last winter I could hardly stand
to be outside at 30 degrees F. I'm getting more
tolerant, resistant(?), but we don't have all that much
cold temps here in Dallas
(yeah right, its 16F this morning).


Marty

What's with this Farenheit business? :)

I'll ride well below freezing, but since coming off not if there's a reasonable risk of ice.

Richard

Did you ride this morning LBM? I didn't, but I think it's mostly my lack of experience while riding in such low (20's) temps. Once I get better at knowing how to dress, I'll probably ride in the lower temps.

PH
:D

What's with this Farenheit business?

OK, here it is in Centigrade

"Having lived in South Africa for 5 years
I find I have less tolerance for cold than
I did before. Last winter I could hardly stand
to be outside at -1C. I'm getting more
tolerant, resistant(?), but we don't have all that much
cold temps here in Dallas
(yeah right, its -8C this morning). "

HAHA

Marty

Sorry, I am not going to answer a poll in frigging Fahrenheit.

I can give you answers in Celsius though.. or Kelvin if you're into physics.

It all depends on wind speed.. Yesterday we had a hurricane with gusts of wind of over 120km/hr. This feels a lot colder than a bit of wind.. they use a wind chill factor for these things.

But generally speaking if it is winter, a temperature below 5 degrees Celsius (278 K) feels cold.
If it is summer in a temperate region, a temperature below 16-17 degrees Celsius feels cold (289-290K)
When you're in the tropics, temperatures below 22C and perhaps even 25C may feel coolish.. (295-298K).

Once I made a bike trip of a bit over 100K at -20 C (253K) and I enjoyed it... now I wouldn't be able to toleratue such low temps i guess as I've started to enjoy hot temperatures more.. and am quite able to cycle decently at 35C and above (308K plus)

It is my firm belief that it is a rare person who can tolerate both high and low temperatures very well.. it is probably also true that the older you get, the more you can tolerate high temps..

Ivana, the metric fundamentalist..

I find it interesting that temperature is perhaps the most difficult metric conversion for Americans to make intuitively. Here are a few easily-remembered key reference points:
convergence point: -40C = -40F
water freezes: 0C = 32F
cool 10C = 50F
room temperature 20C = 68F
warm/hot 30C = 86F
body temperature 37C = 98.6F



For the record, I live within a km of the Pacific Ocean, in one of the world's more benign climates. Temperatures below freezing are very unusual, as are temperatures above 95F = 35C. At temperatures several degrees above freezing, my fingers, toes, and sinuses start to hurt.

The Founding Fathers of the U.S. could have saved the world alot of expense if they had followed Ben Franklin's recommendation to adopt French, rather than British, weights and measures. The bicycle industry remains part of the problem: in a quasi-metric world, ISO adopted the English (1.375"x24TPI) BB thread standard, instead of the Swiss (35mm x 1Tpmm), and the British handlebar stem diameter (7/8"=22.2mm) instead of the French (22.0mm), because of the installed base.

Being a southerner, I define cold as anything under 30 degrees, but I'll ride down to about 10 before wimping out! My blood's done thinned out in the heat of the summer, so that I resemble the "popsicle on a bike" if it's below 30! :eek:

While I admire you hearty souls who brave the artic temps, I also think you're CRAZY! (The very definition of cyclist.) :D

I believe this poll was prompted by the extreme cold that we had in the South today. :D I believe much of the country had cold weather and will again tomorrow.

I wimped out and said 30-40.

And like Fubar, it's my hands, feet, eyes, and nose that get REALLY cold! Plus my arms and legs. ;)

Below 20 will have me commuting by car. 20-30 will have me riding the brakes down hills, to reduce the bite from wind. Above 30, it's all good.

The temperature is pretty much meaningless, its the ammount of snow or ice that deterrs me.

Writing from dayton ohio, where it was almost 60 and sunny yesterday, rained overnite, and now its 25 with high winds and 1-2 inches of snow today.

G-d, I hate Ohio.

its oddly fitting that my 200th post was a curse on the great state of ohio.

I said 'below 0' (F). As was stated, wind chill is the more important factor as the temperature decreases. The coldest I have ridden in (most of the day as a bike courier) was -30 C with a wind chill of -40.

Originally posted by purple hayes
Did you ride this morning LBM? I didn't, but I think it's mostly my lack of experience while riding in such low (20's) temps. Once I get better at knowing how to dress, I'll probably ride in the lower temps.

PH
:D
Purple Hayes, other people asked me this at work and I told them I could have, but I didn't feel like it!

;)

Cold is Dublin when the breeze (hurricane) is blowing up the Liffey. It's damp and cold and miserable. Make the teeth chatter. The cold gets into your bones and you never heat up.

I believe it's worse when the wind comes howling in from the atlantic on the west coast of the country. Galway is hard but the Aran Islands are worse. That's cold.

i have skies in temperatures of -30 and it wasn't like the genuine Irish cold.

That's why we have whiskey and Guinness.

Cold ???

I usually call in the reinforcements (i.e. car) when the temps drop below 0 F. More times than not, when temps are that low, icy conditions are also present. Such as this mornings low of 5, along with a good layer of ice after yesterdays snow fall. As soon as the ice melts from the shoulder of the highway, I will be back on the bike...hopefully tomorrow. And since my commute is only 5 miles, I can tolerate fairly cold temps.

<whining>

TODAY is too cold! It's 21 degrees F with the windchill, and though I really want to go out, I know that I don't have the right cold weather gear to do so. It's been so nice with temps more than 30 since I started at the beginning of January, and I haven't bothered to buy any more winter clothing. I really want to get out of my office!!!

</whining>

:)

I think the coldest I've ever had to ride in is -29c for about 15 minutes. Lately the coldest I've had to deal with is -20c with a windchill around -25c. It's not so bad as long as you ride like hell to keep your body warm.
Ideal winter conditions for me is -10c. At that temp, there's no slush. I can't stand rideing in slush. Also, at -10 I don't get too over-heated in my winter cycling clothes and I don't have to wear so many layers that I feel like Kenny from southpark.

Originally posted by cyclezealot
A part of the reason we live here, is for perfect weather. Don't like it hot or cold. Can tolerate about 45 but, really prefer it over 60, jackets what are those for? Don't like heat either. Go inland it gets hot here. Won't cycle over 96. But inland heat is a dry heat, so I can take it that hot. Here almost every day of the year, it will get to at least 60 each day of the year. Perfect for cycling. Sorry.

And how is it riding in the smoke from those brush fires?

Originally posted by fubar5
Cold is a figment of my imagination. It's not really cold, I just think it is. I will not allow the elements of nature to dominate my wild spirit. Therefore I know no cold.




But my hands, feet, eyes, and nose do!!!
You just need to find a way to make your hands, feet, eyes, and nose as wild as your spirit. :)

I voted "zero to ten above" on the basis of what I have done, and what I would do if I HAD to. But that doesn't mean I'm going to rush out and do it. I rode for about 40 minutes at a time in temperatures of around 2 degrees F. three or four times and it wasn't too bad. But give me a choice between that and fifty degrees and I'd take fifty.

Can't get out of my mind that TV special I saw once about Siberia: how the people went out and had a picnic when it reached 29 degrees F. (roughly -4 deg. C.) one day.

So much depends on what you're acclimated to.

One day, it was too cold for fingerless gloves, but I didn't think about it until I was on my way and the pain started in.

The really wild thing is that, although I had to "disassociate" myself from the hammer-smacking pain in my fingers, after about 15 minutes they actually warmed up all by themselves with no problem after that.

I'll remember that one.

The two things I worry about most in the cold are: 1) ears, fingers, forehead/face and toes; 2) changing a flat when my shirt and jacket are drenched.

Most of my gear (volume-wise) in my backpack is a dry change of clothes just for this purpose. Other than that, I'm a happy camper until I get to work.

:thumbup:

Originally posted by LittleBigMan
The really wild thing is that, although I had to "disassociate" myself from the hammer-smacking pain in my fingers, after about 15 minutes they actually warmed up all by themselves with no problem after that.


I think I remember hearing somewhere that you should really be worried when you stop noticing the cold (or the heat) and it doesn't feel that bad. I think that's when your body really starts getting damaged.

But it sounds like you made it out OK, so shine on.

andy

Cold here in Monterey is about 30 F. Wow, look what living in California has done to me.

andy

Originally posted by JonR
Can't get out of my mind that TV special I saw once about Siberia: how the people went out and had a picnic when it reached 29 degrees F. (roughly -4 deg. C.) one day.

So much depends on what you're acclimated to.
I remember a docu. about Eskimos (pretty cool--oh, a pun!) Outside it was subzero Fahrenheit. Inside the igloo, a toasty 40F
(about 4C.) A little Eskimoette toddler was toddling around au natural.

:eek:

yesterday's gallop was definitely a bit nipply...and although my personal record is somewhere around -25F with the wind chill, all 9 of today's degrees still had me sweating which was not good for the last 5 miles which were into the wind. Had ice buns when I got home and my balaclava was stuck to my cheeks, but WHOOOOPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Sometimes I think I do this just for the looks from passing motorists!



"....packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes/
contestants in a suicidal race..."

Originally posted by fubar5
Cold is a figment of my imagination. It's not really cold, I just think it is. I will not allow the elements of nature to dominate my wild spirit. Therefore I know no cold.

I once had imaginary hypothermia. :)

Originally posted by manderax


I once had imaginary hypothermia. :)
I see lots of people with imaginary COMPANIONS on the street--and not kids, either, grown-ups clutching brown paper bags with bottles inside, and ranting into the air! :eek:

What counts as cold to me will depend greatly on the situation, but I assume you meant in regards to riding, so that's the question I answered.

I put my notch down for 0-10 degrees, though that's really just a rough guesstimate. This is the first winter I've really been riding seriously, or had any great distance to commute, and it has been rather pathetic. The temperature is just starting to get down to where it should have been two months ago.
As others have said though, it's not the cold that bothers me so much as the wet and ice, which there has been little of this year.

In other walks of life, my cold tolerance drops quite a bit lower. I have managed to avoid a heavy winter coat all but twice this year so far. This morning I left the house at about 3, the temperature well under zero, wearing only a long-sleeved t-shirt and a hoodie (granted, I drove, but my car's heater doesn't usually kick in until long after I've reached my destination). I've also been camping in the north woods when the temperature (without windchill) has dropped to almost 40 below at night (that's 40 below for you metric people)!

My temperature tollerance varies from day to day. I think it's just a matter of how I feel at a particular moment, although dressing properly and staying dry tends to help too.