Winter Cycling - No Cold Feet

From someone who has ridden many 10's of thousands of miles in cold weather for 40 years:

1) there is a large amount of individual variability in susceptibility to cold feet
2) Circulation is everything. Buy 1.5 size larger winter (insulated MTB shoes like Northwave or Pearl GTX)
3) use THIN wool socks only. Your feet should feel very loose in the shoes. Darn Tough Nordic socks are the best I've found.
4) use shoe covers over the winter boots if the temps are below 32F
5) wiggle your toes vigorously every 15 minutes during the ride
6) don't be a whinny baby, cycling is supposed to hurt.

use shoe covers over the winter boots if the temps are below 32F

I don't know what a shoe cover is. Sounds like your winters are quite warm. There aren't many winter days when the temps here are above 32F.

Also not sure what you mean by winter boots. I use regular hiking boots, about 9 inches high.

Are you guys on road bikes? I'm still clipping in.

I ride (road bike with mountain bike shoes and clip-in pedals) in Northern New England. It can get very cold. The coldest I've ever ridden is about -20F, but I was young and foolish... Usually when it gets too cold, there is too much snow to ride safely anyway, so most of my cold weather riding is in the 20's or 30's. Usually don't ride below 20F.

As for the shoes I'm referring to, I mean insulated cycling mountain bike shoes like the Northwave winter GTX shoe. I use these with cleats
There are a lot of companies that make cycling shoe cover. Pearl Izumi makes a nice mountain bike shoe cover.

I also sometimes put a felt liner in the bottom of my shoes, that gives a bit more warmth, too.

If I were in Calgary, I'd go Cross country skiing anyway!!

I've also spent many years cycling in the cold ... in temps as low as -40 C/F ... in both southern Manitoba and central Alberta.

I commuted year round for several years in Winnipeg in all temperatures ... and also successfully did three CAM Challenges (Century-A-Month Challenge ... at least one 100-mile ride in each month of the year) while living in Canada. The first was in 2003 in Winnipeg, and the next two were in 2005 and 2006 in central Alberta. I attempted another CAM Challenge in 2008 in central Alberta, and made it through 11 months ... but didn't manage December's. So I've done quite a bit of long distance cycling in the cold too.

And so, I wrote an article about my experiments, and resulting tips, for keeping my feet warm ...

Cold Feet
http://www.machka.net/whatworks/coldfeet.htm


Some of your tips are similar to mine, but I do have to say that your Tip #6 is wrong. Cycling is not supposed to hurt. If your bicycle is set up correctly, and you have the right equipment for the situation, you should be quite comfortable for long distances.

The only pain you should feel while cycling might be in the muscles as you push yourself harder than usual.

Another Canadian voting for Sorel boots and platform pedals for the winter.

I've used platform pedals for commuting in very cold. I agree that's the way to go for a lot of riding, I just really like being "clipped in" Maybe Sorel should come out with a cycling boot!

I would never argue with Canadians, anyway.

...lots of ways to keep feet warm in the winter.

thin socks and large winter bike shoes and overboots represents a very narrow viewpoint on how to keep feet warm.

my fav for many years?

USAF mukkluks. VERY light and hella warm for seriously cold conditions.

http://www.firebirds.org/menu5/mukluk1a.jpg

Another Canadian voting for Sorel boots and platform pedals for the winter.

+1 to this. Sorrell's with wool socks can withstand nearly temp.

......And so, I wrote an article about my experiments, and resulting tips, for keeping my feet warm........

I've read your article before and I found it very well written and informative. The only suggestion I would make is to try adding some short #7 slotted hex head screws to the soles of your shoes to give you traction in icy conditions, but you certainly got me wearing longer sox to cover my calves, and for that I thank you. Never too old to learn something new.... :thumb:

Not so sure about the thin socks advice. After lots and trial and error last year I have found a combo that works well for me. I just use my summer shoes with REI expedition weight merino wool socks. Then I add in neoprene booties and use foot warmer chemical packs on top of my toes when it's really cold, as in below 20F. Not had one day of cold feet yet this year even with rides of a couple of hours in temps in the single digits. Once the temps fall under zero I can add another heat pack to the bottom of the toes if needed.

It's all about circulation and sweat management. I've found that if i use thick socks, my feet swim around too much and tend to sweat, which causes them to get cold. I was out riding yesterday in 10F yesterday with thin socks for 1.5 hours and my feet were toasty. I really like my cycling specific mtb shoes that have a eVent liner (similar to goretex), since they really do breath. With a shoe cover over these, I rarely get cold unless I start the ride with cold feet, which is something you want to avoid too.

I use my regular bike shoes with medium weight wool socks down to 35 degrees without any problem...when it's dry. Less then 35 degrees, I use shoe covers. Less than 20 degrees, I don't ride...usually too snowy or windy when it's less then 20 degrees during daylight hours.

Despite using wool socks under my clipless MTB shoes, I have cold feet, mostly toes. I picked up a pair of thin merino wool liner socks to add under the wool socks hoping that layers will work. My feet aren't sweating; I'm just cold. I figured this would be preferable to outer toe covers. Cold for me, though is under 40ºF.

My feet seem to run cold AND still sweat enough to eventually defeat my socks' insulation. Today I was riding at about 30F with wool-blend socks, loose shoes (Specialized Defroster winter models), plastic baggies over my toe area, windproof booties over that, and when we hit some headwind at 15mph, I could feel my toes starting to get cold.

I hem and haw about it, but one of these days, I'm going to accidentally some Hotronics electrical foot warmers (http://www.hotronic.com/products/fw/index.html). Gimme some wattage in my shoes!

Another Canadian voting for Sorel boots and platform pedals for the winter.

They're great, but I can't stand pedalling in them... they are pretty warm though!

I disagree, with tip #6 cycling is not supposed to hurt you in that way.

My feet seem to run cold AND still sweat enough to eventually defeat my socks' insulation. Today I was riding at about 30F with wool-blend socks, loose shoes (Specialized Defroster winter models), plastic baggies over my toe area, windproof booties over that, and when we hit some headwind at 15mph, I could feel my toes starting to get cold.

I hem and haw about it, but one of these days, I'm going to accidentally some Hotronics electrical foot warmers (http://www.hotronic.com/products/fw/index.html). Gimme some wattage in my shoes!

You could change sock liners and stuff the old sucks in where they can dry out.(if u don't have smell feets) ;p

They're great, but I can't stand pedalling in them... they are pretty warm though!

I disagree, with tip #6 cycling is not supposed to hurt you in that way.

yeah, cycling in Sorels is an exercise in overkill. USAF mukluks are functionally about as warm as sorels in very cold weather, and about 4 pounds lighter.

The only time I have ever used Sorels is during one particular, very cold, century. They aren't the greatest thing to pedal with, but they served their purpose for that occasion.

I'm an Aussie in Canada - go figure.

And, because I'm generally weak and not used to the cold, I find that my feet get extremely cold. I like to ride in my knee high Sorels on big mtn bike platform pedals. Myabe the women's ones are more flexible. I have the Cate the Great ones below:
http://www.buybeststore.com/images_products/Sorel_Women_Cate_The_Great_Snowboot.jpg

6) don't be a whinny baby, cycling is supposed to hurt.
You are doing something completely wrong. And you should research that, instead of boasting here about your machismo.

You are doing something completely wrong. And you should research that, instead of boasting here about your machismo.

The man was making a joke. Maybe your boots are too tight, like the Grinch. :lol:

You could change sock liners and stuff the old sucks in where they can dry out.(if u don't have smell feets) ;p

On some rides I do take along a spare pair of socks as a precaution.

I looked on Ebay and discovered some Lake winter shoes for a good price, one size larger than my Defrosters, so I bought a pair of those and ordered some extra-thick wool socks to go with them... still cheaper than electric heaters.

You are doing something completely wrong. And you should research that, instead of boasting here about your machismo.

To become better at riding at not just enjoy the activity on one level, you'll have to put your muscles to work. But muscles being exerted continuously and vigorously over a long period of time will eventually "hurt you".

So how do you improve your riding ability without the unintended but inevitable side effect?

To become better at riding at not just enjoy the activity on one level, you'll have to put your muscles to work. But muscles being exerted continuously and vigorously over a long period of time will eventually "hurt you".

So how do you improve your riding ability without the unintended but inevitable side effect?

Your muscles may ache as you exert yourself further than you have before ... but your muscles shouldn't hurt on every ride ... and your feet should not hurt from the cold. That's not healthy, and if that happens, you're doing something wrong with your foot covering setup.