mrodgers

Well, this morning it was 46° out when I left the house. I have yet to be out below about 69°. All I have is regular clothes and didn't know what to wear. So I head down to my trail in a sweatshirt and sweatpants with t-shirt and sweatshorts underneath. I don't have a time or distance plan, figured I'll ride further than my normal 12 miles but don't know how much further. So I start out and 14 mph in 46° temps is freakin cold! My fingers were immediately frozen (very old fingerless gloves and across the hand is made for wind to go through) and the wind went right through the sweatshirt and t-shirt.

As I hit about 15 minutes out though, I start to warm up. I ended up riding 10 miles out before I turned around to go back.

The ride back was the problem. Now the sun is starting to reach the valley (along the river and surrounded by mountainous terrain) and it is warming up. How do any of you deal with this when it is cold for the first half the ride and warmer for the 2nd half? I probably could have taken the sweatshirt off and maybe tied it around my waist. I thought that if I had a "real" bike with an actual top tube then perhaps I could have shed the sweatpants and tied them onto the top tube (as you may know, mine is a Walmart double shock mountain bike with the typical weird frame on rear shock bikes.)

What do you all do if you want to shed clothes during the ride? Surely there are others out there just wearing regular clothes and not clothes that you maybe can unzip vents and such.

I think next time I may just suck it up knowing that the temps will be coming up, at least for now until the temps drop and stay dropped. At that point, I think I'll definitely going to need some type of windbreaker to keep the cold air from passing right through.

DnvrFox

Arm warmers
leg warmers
light windbreaker over jersey
small foldable backpack
Bib shorts

I take off things as I warm up and place them in the small backpack

We typically have cold mornings and much warmer later on. The above works great for me. SOmetimes I will use two very light (Tyvek) windbreakers - it is amazinghow warm that is.

RiPHRaPH

easy. take old tube socks and wear them as arm warmers. cut the ends off. also stuff a section of the morning paper on your chest between your t-shirt and sweatshirt. Throw it away when it gets too hot. If it was colder than anticipated we would take a section of paper from the morning paper of a neighbor.

or look into embrocation.

CommuteCommando

Out here in the winter it is typically 40f in the AM and warms up to the 60's-70's in the afternoon. I wear full finger gloves, and a thin wind breaker in the AM. I am cold at first, but I ride hard enough that I am comfotably warm in five minutes. Summer time is usually low sixties in the AM, and full kit with fingerless gloves.

Erwin8r

Cycling jerseys have nice big pockets in the back that accommodate windbreakers/jackets nicely.

Full-fingered gloves are ok in to the high 70's, so that is a other thing to change.

Long socks can be "rolled down" when the temps warm, etc.

dbikingman

Here is a link to the winter cycling forum. There is a lot of good information but I found post # 155 chart to be interesting. It may not apply directly to you, but it does provide ideas to consider.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ng-guide/page7

Lacumo

Definitely multiple layers as the temp cruises downward toward fall and winter temp ranges, and have something (small backpack or some kind of bike bag) to put the unneeded excess layers into as the temp increases and you can lose a layer. On the gloves -- because of arthritis, I'm especially sensitive to cold weather-induced pain in my knuckles. There are times when that causes me more agony than anything else. I find having gloves appropriate for cold weather is the single most important thing for me when riding in cooler weather.

goldfinch

Cut off wool sweater sleeves make good arm and knee warmers, so said another poster a while back.

I've used the paper in the front of my shirt trick frequently, it is convenient and makes a huge difference in warmth. I have even taken flyers out of real estate signs to stick in my shirt if it is cold.

At 46 degrees if I know it will warm up I will most likely wear shorts but bundle up the rest of me with arm warmers, a wool cap under my helmet, full fingered gloves and a jacket. If it isn't going to warm up I will wear tights.