mrfreezesdefy3

The cold ,makes it harder??
It shore seems that way ,or maybe it's just me.

brownfield

That depends. If you're appropriately dressed it shouldn't be much more difficult unless it is extremely cold. Your muscles will warm up from the activity and so long as your extremities are warm it shouldn't be all that bad.

dr_lha

I was out in 32F riding a few days ago and I say yes. It doesn't matter how warm I dress, the cold air going into my lungs slows me down

indyfabz

Raised your hand if you're shore.

Wittyname

Mid-to-low 20s this week when I was setting out for work, I feel fine after a couple minutes to warm up. Strava tells me my rides aren't getting any slower.

YMMV, but cold just motivates me to push harder

VSGRider

Rule #5 !?!

But yeah, its a little more difficult to get things moving...at least for me.

DrIsotope

I live in SoCal, so my definition of "cold" will match that of only a handful of others--- but I do notice having less motivation to get going when it's 50º vs. say 70º. That zone around 50º I genuinely do not like, because it's not especially cold (especially in the sunlight,) but I still need to layer, so I spend alternating periods sweating from the sun and freezing from the "cold" wind. I think I'd rather it be genuinely cold, or just warmer. 90º is a lot easier to deal with than 50º, at least for me.

Luckily, this weather lasts about a combined total of 30 days spread over 10 weeks. Bring back the warmth.

indyfabz

Cold makes it harder in the morning.

dagray

I notice when it is cold (below 50 degrees) or hot (above 90 degrees) that my heart rate is higher and my blood pressure gets higher faster until I have warmed up.

jimincalif

Air is about 7% more dense at freezing than it is at 20C. So moving thru cold air is a bit more work.

Cyril 

It makes it harder to get out of the door...a real demotivator.
When the cold makes me want to stay inside, I give myself permission to
turn around and come back home if the ride is too awful after three kms.
I have yet to take myself up on the offer.

JerrySTL

Cold dry air is thicker than warm, moist air. That's why more baseball home runs are hit in the middle of the summer rather than the beginning or end of the season. I just noticed that jimincalif beat me to this one.

Cold temps makes grease and oil thicker which adds to friction. That reminds me that my right brifter was missing shifts a few days ago when it was cold, but worked perfectly well in yesterday's mid 60°F temps.

My thick tights certainly restrict leg movement somewhat.

Jarrett2

It makes me pee more frequently, that's for sure.

dagray

Do you stop to pee, or do what the video of one of the big races shows and pee while riding?

Jarrett2

Stop of course, unlike scuba diving.

That reminds me of the joke. There are two kinds of scuba divers.

Ones that pee in their wetsuit and ones that lie about it.

indyfabz

I did that a few times during fast group rides. Once was during a flat, organized century in NJ. I was with a group of people. We were doing about 27 mph. No way was I going to leave that group. I drifted to the back and told the guy in front of me not to turn around because I was going to pee.

The U.S. Pro Championship was in Philly for many years. One time a rider pulled down the front of his shorts and let it rip as he was passing a fairly large crowd. Some people were aghast. I turned to them to explain that the race wasn't going to stop so he could pee.

dagray

exactly... reminds me of the pee tubes we had for the pilot and bombardier in the A6 aircraft I worked on while in the Navy. I think we should have them with a tube attached so we can direct the flow and not have to stop on our rides

Of course that might get messy if used while riding the trainer

RunningPirate

Yep. But a lot of it's mental, in my opinion.

In Feb this year, I was in Fox, AK (about 30 mins outside of Fairbanks). While I was up there, I saw some fat tire bikes for rent and - not having ever ridden one and wanting to - I took one out for an hour in near freezing temps. Naturally, I was bundled up which made movement a bit difficult, but I was comfortable going to hot as I tend to build heat quickly. One thing that makes a huge difference with me is wearing a beanie (you lose something like 40 to 45% of your body heat through your head). The harder part, however, was actually getting dressed that morning to just go outside, knowing it's going to be cold. In fact, tomorrow morning, I'm going to cycle commute for the first time in almost 3 years; it's supposed to be 45F when I leave the house tomorrow morning; not as cold as a lot of places, but damn cold for this CA native...and I'm dreading it a little.

mrodgers

Yup, your definition definitely doesn't match mine. 50° is the cutoff between shorts and short sleeve vs. shorts and long sleeve. 45° and it switches to long pants and a light jacket over the long sleeve to stop wind penetration.

I've ridden down to 35. It was tolerable. The biggest problem is breathing the cold air. I seemed to end the rides in the mid to upper 30's with asthmatic like breathing problems. I haven't done much in that range of temp, a handful of days last year at the end of the season. I hope to get out a few more times this year yet. I think my final ride last year was around Thanksgiving. I am hoping to get out a few times yet before Christmas. I'm definitely done once the 15-20 inches of snow storms start to happen in January and February.

What I need is some cold water gear. I'm dying to get out on the kayak on the water and want to get out as the edges of the lakes start to freeze but I don't have any cold weather suits. They run about $800-1000. I won't have one of those for a long time.

DrIsotope

Today makes my top-5 least favorite type of riding day-- left the house at around 45º, but the sky was completely clear and the sun was very warm. So it was just alternating periods of sweating then freezing. I don't know how to dress for it. It's not cold enough to really bundle up (I wore full-finger windproof gloves anyway, and my hands bathed in sweat for the entire ride) but still, the temperature in the shade is easily 10º colder than in the sun. Oh, and my toes freeze solid after about an hour, even in the 40s-50s. By the end of the ride the sun was high and it was in the upper 50s, so I just sweat the entire way up the hill.

50º sucks. It's no problem standing in the yard or even doing yardwork, but get on a bike at 25mph with the sun at your back and it's like taking an ice blaster in the face. I just don't know how to dress for it. And even if I did, I live in SoCal, have been riding for less than 11 months, and don't have any appropriate clothes anyway. December is gonna be rough.

Drew Eckhardt 

Wear an uninsulated + vented wind jacket or vest. With cycling 20-25% metabolically efficient, even the slowest 15 MPH 100W recovery pace provides a 300-400W personal space heater. 20 MPH doubles that. All you need to do is keep the cold breeze off you.

You can unzip for short temperature increases (up-hill in the sun followed by a descent in shade) and stow it in a jersey pocket when the rest of your ride will be comfortable, with room left over for the usual extras like wallet, energy bars, etc.

Pair with a short sleeve jersey for less cold, thermal jersey for more where specifics vary depending on sunlight, humidity, and individual cold resistance.

Use tighter clothes which trap warm air next to your body. That gives you comfort with less insulation when you're moving faster, so you don't overheat on hills where you're slower.

Shoe covers work.

cyccommute 

Wearing a hat can change your perception of heat loss but your head really doesn't lose that much heat. This link says about 7%. The old 40 to 45% number came from a flawed study by the US Army in the 1950s.

Okay, "below 50°" covers a lot of territory but, honestly, 50°F isn't even "brisk". I'm barely into covering my knees at 50°F

Say no more And the "warmth" never left. I'm looking at sub-freezing temperatures until at least the end of March and will have cold temperatures even through May. Quit yur whinnin'!

Now the people in the upper Mid-West may look down their noses at me like I'm looking down my nose at the SoCal folks, the Oregon folks and you folks in Georgia because I don't ride much below 15°F...I have but I really don't like it much...but I would say that cold does make it harder to ride. Not 50°F or even 40°F but when I get down to 30°F and below I notice a significant drop in speed. Part of this is due to the fact that below around 30°F, I'm wearing more clothes which add weight but also restrict movement.

Around freezing, I also notice wind chill more. Doing 15 mph at 50°F isn't really noticeably more chilly than the same speed at 70°F but at 30°, the wind starts to bite much more. I naturally slow down to reduce the wind chill some. The wind also starts to cut through even the best insulation more as the temperature drops south of 30° which takes its toll on muscles. I find that my legs, especially my quads, hurt more at lower temperatures. This is likely due to heat loss from large muscle groups.

But, if you are talking about temperatures that are moderate...like 50°F...any change in riding difficulty is probably more psychological than physiological. As they say over in the 41, HTFU

indyfabz

Interesting that the OP has elicited mostly serious responses. I would have loved to have seen this thread started in the 41.

Tundra_Man 

Yep. I notice that below about 50F I lose roughly 1 mph off my average speed for every 10-15 degrees of temp drop, even though I feel I'm working just as hard or harder. Below zero my speedometer says I'm only going 11 mph but my heart rate is trying to convince me I'm doing 20.

Leebo

GA ? haa, haa, nice. Define cold. Mine is when my gatorade freezes solid. Harder? maybe. But I get double miles now. My 18 mile commute was 26 F at the start, 6:30 this am. Warmed to 30F and some sun at the finish. So yes, more clothes, harder breathing and such. Studded tires are most definitely harder.