Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - 30-degree shift during ride - what to wear?

I'm doing a ride on Saturday that's going to be 27 degrees when we start, up to 58-60 degrees during the day, and potentially back to the 30's/40's when I finish. It's a brevet, so no SAG or drop-offs, and it's a loop, so can't stash stuff to pick up later.

I have a slightly oversized seatpost bag, but that will be filled with drink powders - everything needs to be carried on me, wrapped around the seatpost or hung off of aerobars.

What would you wear?

Wool.

SP
Bend, OR

Oh, and do yourself a favor: get a bag big enough to carry everything you'll need. It's a whole lot better than futzing around with overstuffed pockets and tiny bags.

SP
Bend, OR

arm warmers and leg warmers. Something you can easily adjust, but don't have to add layer on layer and end up with overheated core, and they easily pack away.

Agree with wool. At a starting temp of 27, I'd be wearing: helmet liner, face mask/neckwarmer, long-sleeve wool shirt, short-sleeve wool shirt, wool arm warmers, windbreaker with zip-off arms, lightweight wind gloves, wool shorts, tights, and leg warmers, thick wool socks, and neoprene shoe covers. By the afternoon at a temp of 60, I'd probably still have on the helmet liner, long-sleeve shirt, shorts, tights and socks -- everything else would have gone into either the saddlebag or handlebar bag.

Back when I used to ride with aerobars, I made myself a ditty bag out of a small stuff sack that would hang under the aerobars, and that was big enough to hold a fair amount of stuff. It was about the same diameter as the spread between the bars, maybe five inches, and probably about eight inches deep (though the velcro was sewn on 2" down so that the top of the bag stuck up a bit between the bars).

Your main problem may be what to do with shoe covers, which can take up a fair amount of room and be hard to stuff in a pocket.

Dry: PI skullcap. Headband. Craft long sleeve base top. Long sleeve mid-weight poly jersey. Wind vest. Microfiber jacket. 2 pair gloves, differing weights. Wool socks. Either Lake boots or warm booties. Tights with windproof fronts, breathable backs.

Wet: add waterproof/breathable rainpants like O2 or Marmot. Go to heavier poly winter jersey.

I'm assuming you don't have room for a real seatpack like a Jandd Mountain III because your legs are too short. Otherwise you'd have one. A Detours midsize rack pack can be bungied up off the rear wheel even for short inseams. Otherwise, a very light backpack, even a Camelbak case.

Don't wrap stuff around the seatpost. Good way to lock up your rear wheel.

I take a Helly Hansen packable shell. Zips into its own pocket and is 7x7x3". If I'm stowing it for the duration of the heat of the day, I toe-strap it to seat rails. If I had aero bars, I'd consider strapping it to them somehow.

Short-term storage techniques include clipping it to my stem with a carabiner or just stuffing it in a bottle cage. I do these sometimes when I'm in the flatlands and can see that I'm gonna hit another storm in a half hour.

Had a similar 200k a few weeks ago: 29 at the start, 55 at mid-day, dropping back into the 30s as I was riding from the finish back to my apartment.

Started with-
- smartwool skully cap
- longsleeve wool jersey
- longsleeve microfleece lined jersey (Performance Tundra-II) over top
- PI Cyclone gloves
- Craft winter knickers
- PI knee warmers underneath to keep my quads/knees extra toasty
- Sock Dreams super-stripe above the knee knicker socks
- Gore Bike Wear wind/waterproof booties

As it warmed up-
- Changed the wool skully for my CoolMax helmet liner
- stripped the outer jersey
- stripped the knee warmers
- stripped the booties

If you have to carry it all with you, the booties/knee warmers/skully could all cram into rear pockets of the stripped jersey which you can roll up the excess and tie around your waist. (I've seen some riders do that with rain jackets when they're just going to need them again for the next burst of rain.)

I'm assuming you don't have room for a real seatpack like a Jandd Mountain III because your legs are too short.

Hey - how do you know that? Do I really sound that short? :) I actually have this one: http://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FMWEX and when I said wrapped around my seatpost, it's above the seatpost bag - leg warmers stretched over the saddle, but on top of the seatpost bag.

Good ideas, folks. I'll bring a big velcro strap that I can use to attach stuff to my seatpost bag or aerobars.

I'm doing a similar ride Saturday (perhaps same ride, GA?). I'll be wearing bib shorts with long johns and fleece long pants with wool socks and shoes with booties. Then starting with a short sleeve wool shirt, jersey, and two long sleeve wool jerseys on top. I'll remove the long sleeve wool a layer at a time as it warms up, and might remove a bottom layer as well. For face, I'll have a beanie, half face mask, and goggles for the start. I will have hand warmers along if needed in my gloves or booties.

Walter

I have this problem all the time, but the opposite configuration - nice in the morning down in the plains, a long sweaty climb, then a 20 mile descent sometimes in a thunderstorm with hail & cold rain.

I have one of these for carrying stuff on long rides, and absolutely love it: http://detours.us/product_info.php?products_id=115&language=

The other thing I have & love is a vest with enormous pockets - as I take stuff off, it goes into the pockets. With a high of around 60 you'll never have to take your vest off so you double your jersey storage.

I would dress to be slightly cold at the start and slightly too warm in the middle, but not let my hands and feet get too cold no matter what.

FOr the top, I would recommend a light long sleeve base layer with a short sleeve jersey and arm warmers over it, then a vest, then a very light weight wind jacket. If you have a base layer with a long front zipper you can zip down the jersey & base layer to vent.

For legs, mine don't care as much, so I would go with full leg warmers and full booties, and expect them to be a bit too hot during the day, but you could take the leg warmers off if it gets really too warm. I would just live with the booties, even though they will be too hot.

FOr gloves, I would take two pair, if you have a layering system that works tha would be great, otherwise this is just somewhere that I can't deal with being too cold. You can also take chemical handwarmers in the gloves & shoes and discard when you warm up.

Definitely a light hat or balaclava.

Lastly, and this might sound weird, but I bet the cold in the morning will be the biggest deal - you could wear an old sweatshirt to start, and discard it along the way.

If you can't get a better storage solution, remember, you can tie a jacket around your waist, and you can roll other stuff up like leg warmers inside the jacket. It's not pretty but it works.

I'm obviously not as technical as most people when it comes to clothing. For those temps I'd be wearing the same things -

Windproof hat
Light windproof gloves
Base layer
Medium thickness withproof
Shorts
Running socks
Normal shoes

Base layer has zip part way down and windproof has a zip all the way down. If I get to hot or cold I adjust the zips.

this is why boxy handlebar bags are so popular among randonneurs. I'm happy in tights up to 70 degrees, but it sure is nice to ditch the jacket and ride in just a long sleeve jersey and base layer at 50-60.

Is a carradice SQR slim bag out of the question?

http://peterwhitecycles.com/carradice.asp

(about half way down the page)

I just purchased one of these for those days when I commute on my road bike. The bag sits up high - nothing lower than the seat post. It's not a huge bag, but should be enough to carry everything you plan on carrying (limit is 22 lbs - I hope you're not carrying that much._

What I wore...

Thin liner socks
chemical toe warmers
mid-weight wool socks
shoes
shoe covers
padded tights
knee warmers
craft base layer
very thin PI base layer
chemical body warmers (one front, one back - don't recommend the back one)
tyvek FedEx pouches
jersey
armwarmers
Sugoi jacket (from my team kit, not sure what model it is, but think it's just their winter jersey)
Polar buff around neck and face
Adidas thermal beanie
thin gloves
hand warmers
thick PI gloves

I was quite comfy, and shed warmers, FedEx pouches, thin gloves and arm and knee warmers throughout the day. Didn't put them back on after sunset, but I probably should have, as I was quite cold when I finished. Temps were 27 when we started, maybe hit a high of 57, then back to around 40 after dark. I was really comfortable in the morning which is how I wanted to be - my legs and knees don't react well to cold, and starting a 300k cold wasn't appealing to me. Seems like way too much seeing it all written down like that, but, well, I was comfortable and I finished the brevet. Life is good. :)

I was hoping you'd post this. I run into similar conditions from time to time. The FedEx pouches is a great idea, as is putting your leg warmers over the saddle, as is taking chemical warmers instead of heavier clothes. I only thought your legs might be short because you're a distance racer type and most folks who race unsupported have substantial bags/trunks, etc., so if you didn't have one, it must be because it wouldn't fit - just like me. Didn't mean anything by it. That Craft stuff is great, isn't it? I also prefer padded tights, but I bet they got warm.

Glad you had a good ride!

http://sagittandy.blogspot.com/2010/03/clothing-vs-temperature-chart.html

The choices may not make sense for anyone else,

but the concept of keeping track of what worked at various temps, and then making a chart, has some validity.

I'm doing a similar ride Saturday (perhaps same ride, GA?). I'll be wearing bib shorts with long johns and fleece long pants with wool socks and shoes with booties. Then starting with a short sleeve wool shirt, jersey, and two long sleeve wool jerseys on top. I'll remove the long sleeve wool a layer at a time as it warms up, and might remove a bottom layer as well. For face, I'll have a beanie, half face mask, and goggles for the start. I will have hand warmers along if needed in my gloves or booties.

Walter

Walter!!! It was the same ride! By the time I caught up with you, I was down a few layers, but never really got so hot that I regretted the tights or shoe covers.

Here's hoping we'll have warmer weather for our fleche!

L-

I go to Good Will and get a junk sweatshirt to wear over my base layer, jersey and wind vest. I discard it (not litter) when the days warms enough.
I go bib shorts and knee warmers.
The sweatshirt goes, but the rest fits in pockets or teh saddle bag as needed.

I'm doing a ride on Saturday that's going to be 27 degrees when we start, up to 58-60 degrees during the day, and potentially back to the 30's/40's when I finish. It's a brevet, so no SAG or drop-offs, and it's a loop, so can't stash stuff to pick up later.

I have a slightly oversized seatpost bag, but that will be filled with drink powders - everything needs to be carried on me, wrapped around the seatpost or hung off of aerobars.

What would you wear?

I would wear a long sleeve bike jersey with a hardshell cycling jacket over it. This will be good between 45-65 degrees F. Wear some full finger bike gloves and and some full length bike tights or pants over your cycling shorts.

In a small stuff sack (maybe 6 x 12 inches), fastened to the underside of the aero bars take the following items. Long sleeve polar fleece jacket. Make sure that this fits under your cycling jacket. You may want it to be one size smaller than a casual jacket so it fits snug under the cycling jacket. Make sure that it is the cheap breathable kind with a good nap. Avoid the fancy expensive fleece jackets for this insulation layer. You will be warm at 27 degrees F with the long sleeve jersey, polar fleece jacket and hardshell breathable cycling jacket. The fleece jacket can also be worn over the jersey without the hardshell jacket for a very breathable top combination for cool but not cold conditions.

Also take the following items in the stuff sack: Nylon over-gloves, cycling scull cap or balaclava, shoe covers, and helmet cover. With all this gear on you can ride comfortably at 27 F for several hours. Even if it snows or rains.

I would recommend thick wool socks with your cycling shoes and use some winter mountain bike shoes if you have them. This will keep you pretty light and warm. You could also substitute a wool sweater for the polar fleece jacket if you wished but it may not stuff as easy. Make sure that you can stuff both the fleece and cycling jacket in the stuff sack with the other stuff so you can ride with just the jersey if you need to.