jppe

I'm not a cold weather person. I love the heat. I find playing golf in temps in the 100s comfortable. However I can't seem to put on enough clothes around the house when the weather dips below 50. However I enjoy riding in colder temps as much as anytime of the year. Feels invigorating. We're fortunate that in the Piedmont Carolinas we can pretty much ride year round if you can deal with temps in the 20s/30s/40s.

It's taken a while but I have all the clothing needed for temps down into the 20's, and I've learned what clothing to put on depending on the temps. I think once I found a pair of gloves for really colder weather and figured out how to keep my toes warm enough all was good.

It's also important to just accept that speeds are slower, heart rates are higher and the wind is always in your face......

Anyone else enjoy riding in colder temps?

Zinger

I think that maybe working road construction during the winter when I was younger makes me appreciate not being outside when it's colder.

Dudelsack 

No. I do it, but I don't really like it.

ol geezer

Love it! I live in the Virginia Piedmont and ride year-around, as long as there's no snow or ice on the roads!

My ride yesterday started at 41 degrees and it was only 49 when I got back. Not THAT cold, I admit, but the chilliest we've had here this fall. I did several rides in Jan-Feb that started in the 20s and ended in the 30s.

Like you, the hardest part of finding gear was to find gloves that keep my hands warm. I ended up using my cross-country skiing gloves - a little clunky but they work fine. I keep my toes arm with simple shoe covers to block the wind.

I am NOT a hot-weather person although I ride in it. Once it gets above 80 degrees it's just too hot.

Biker395 

Yea, me neither.

A good friend of mine (an Oregonian) loves it when it's a clammy 45 degrees. If it gets over 80 she melts. To me 80 is about perfect, and anything below 50 calls for the heavy artillery.

doctor j

For the last few years, I've ridden year round, but cold weather is not my favorite. I don't ride in rain, snow, or ice.

B. Carfree

I seem to just adjust to wherever I'm living. When I lived in the Bay Area, below 60F was uncomfortably cold, above 80F was insanely hot. When I moved to the Central Valley, below 45F was too cold to enjoy (I still rode, but it wasn't much fun), above 115 was becoming too hot, depending on water availability. Now I'm in OR and anything above 50F is shorts and T-shirt riding weather and much of the year temps are in the 30s when I head out. I'm still comfortable up to 105F, but don't relish it like I did when that was a normal temperature on a summer day.

I definitely don't like to ride when the water becomes a solid. Fortunately, I have never lived where that is a routine problem.

JimF22003

I like the actual riding OK. Don't love it, but I don't hate it either.

What I dislike is all the extra logistics regarding layers, which gloves, planning stops more (worrying about cooling down too much on stops), what the light conditions will be etc.

Matariki

Cold weather commutes in the dark are not that great, but I have no problem with the cold - except that I still tend to overdress for the temps.

On a bright clear Winter day, riding is magic.

qcpmsame 

I guess working in construction has made weather just something to adjust to so I can have a ride. We didn't pack up unless it was really grim as far as rain was concerned. Heat and cold aren't issues, we reschedule concrete placements if it is not 40°F and rising with no freeze forecast for the next 24 hours but there are always other things to work on. Unless it is lightning I ride and adjust my kit to suit the temperature and wind conditions. See the other 2 threads about cold weather and favorite kit.

Bill

PaulH

I miss the weekends at the beach, but I much prefer my daily winter commutes. It's wonderful to ride through the snow, looking forward to relaxing in front of a fire. Unfortunately, the last three winters here have been a bust.

Bob Ross

I love cold weather riding

...just not as much as I love warm weather riding.

GeneO 

+=1. I am an 80-90F + person myself.

Getting prepared and managing the layers is much m,ore time consuming, especially for commuting since I use a medium-sized backpack. It is also more difficult to do maintenance on the bike outside because it is cold and usually dark when I have the free time to do it. Also finding the right pace/layers that doesn't leave you sweating more than your garments can handle.

bkaapcke

Pretty clear symptoms of peri-menopause. It will get worse before it stabilizes. Not to worry, it's part of the life package. Your sex life will take a big dent, however. bk

RonH

When I lived in Atlanta I never rode if the temps were below ~38F, although when I was bike commuting to work I would ride in temps as low as 30F. Once I rode to work when it was 18F. As I said, "once".
Now that we've retired to Florida, cool and cold have different meanings than they used to. I'll be riding in the "cool" next Wednesday. The high is only supposed to be ~60F.

Zinger

That's the problem with outside construction work in the winter. There's always something else that requires crawling around in the snow or something when it's too cold to do what your job usually is.

lenA

Temps here range from -30 to 100+ F with distinct springs and falls

I guess I look at biking and other outdoor activities from the perspective of seasons, not just temps, and take appropriate actions for each.

It's kinda like living in four different places.

Dudelsack 

Rowan

The key is to dress cold at the start. In other words, have the clothing on that you feel to cool to cold. That way, when you start riding, your activity level will warm you up to the right operating temperature, and you won't feel that you have too many clothes on. It does take practice, however, to get it right.

Pirkaus

I ride until the salt hits the road
Ice and 23's don't mix
Pirk

WC89

I kind of like riding in cold temps, even into the teens, with wind. Sure, warm weather riding is my preference! I think, what it is, is that I get satisfaction out of CONQUERING the elements with my arsenal of riding apparel. Anyway, getting on the bike when it's cold, or windy, or windy AND cold is what I call LIVING. I feel like, why not, life is too short to make an excuse, I owe it to myself. I try to find beauty in many things in life. Some of the nice quiet country roads I ride are just as beautiful in the dead of winter as they are to me in Fall or summer. Problems with very cold temps is that the rides have to be shorter due to fingers/toes starting to get too cold after a while; also, exposed fingers while changing a flat tire.

travelerman

I generally prefer cooler weather when I am out and about, shopping, working around the house, or just hanging out. But when it comes to cycling, 75 - 85 F. is my comfort zone - into the 90s, if it is not accompanied by high humidity. I suffer far more, with runny nose, cold ears and extremities, in the cold, and will generally not get on the bike at all if it is under 45 degrees.

2manybikes

I'm already hoping for snow and ice to ride on and in. I do get tired of all the time it takes to get dressed and undressed sometimes.

billydonn

I'm pretty much with Jppe. My motor runs best on cool, dense air. I don't mind riding down into the 30s or even below, but the wildcard around here in Nebraska is wind, which is everpresent. Picking the right layers for the weather is a skill I've gotten pretty good at. Snow and ice on the ground and I'm off the road and on the trainer.

I hate super hot humid weather for riding.

ModeratedUser150120149

Really like winter and not only never let temperature or snow/ice stop me actually enjoyed my time outside. Hiking, snowmachine, snowshoeing, or just enjoying a few miles following the other animals. Temperature was never an issue. But I considered it too hazardous to ride a bike on snow and ice. Until this winter that is. Now a friend is showing me how he and his wife do it. So, we'll see.