v1k1ng1001

Great, now I feel like a big wuss.

patentcad

You're too fast for me you big Wussy. That's the only thing that's stopping me.

Cypress

I can live with this.

zonatandem

Have survived -40F during Korean War; 117F during Tucson, AZ summer.
Bodies adapt and layers of clothing to put on/take off are the answer to changing temps.
Cycled regularly at 20F when living in Michigan and 100+ living in Arizona. Have X-skied in -20F.
As I age (only 75 now) it's nicer to ride in warm weather rather than cold.
Definitely need to consume more calories when it's cold; drink more H2O when temp goes up and humidity goes down.
Amazingly, our bodies do adapt.

daytonian

+1

patentcad

It was actually too cold for even Pcad this AM. 12ºF. That I could have handled, but the thin coating of snow on the road made it out of the question. Too dicey. I went down hard two years ago and wound up with a softball sized contusion. F that action. It didn't hurt much but it hung off the side of my hip and I could feel the fluid sloshing around in it when I rode. The part that astonished me was the thought that half the NFL must wake up with those every Monday morning.

But I will ride today. Oh yes. When it's a balmy 24ºF at noon. If it ever gets that warm I mean. Could be an MTB day boys.

Namenda

18F at the moment in my little corner of Mass. Might get to 30 or so later today. I'll be out on the bike soon, dodging the ice (and crazy drivers) on the road.

Tomorrow, the weatherman is calling for 38F. Can't wait.

R.A.D.

Wow that's amazing! We all can only hope to have your stamina at the young age of 75. Keep on keeping on.

crydee

I see people in tights and jackets here in Florida at 60 degrees. I'm still hot with just shorts and a jersey ;/

fprintf

Speak for yourself! I live in CT also and find this time of the year very difficult to get outside. Layering the upper body is easy with non-bike specific clothing. But layering the feet and legs becomes difficult. I haven't been on the bike in 6 weeks and I need to get back out there, but spending a fortune on tights is not going to happen (with Christmas coming up all fund go to the kids).

substructure

I rode this morning in 34F for 30 miles. Tomorrow it will be 29 or so. No biggie.

I have riden in temps below 20F to work on a road bike. It long and slow and painful but well worth it once it's over.

bac

This morning = 7F

It doesn't get much better.

... Brad

patentcad

29-34ºF is for Wussy.

twobikes

This is related to the original question of how does one ride in cold weather (however someone defines it). The ability of the human body to adapt is very important. I remember a Reader's Digest story about some scientists who went to study the adaptation of some tribesmen to cold. These tribesmen regularly sleep outside on a mat elevated several feet above the ground. Through the night they wear only a loin cloth, even though temperatures are about 40 deg. F. The scientists decided they would do the same. They spent some miserable nights at first, but after a couple of weeks they had adapted and could do it, too. Spend time in the cold and soon you will be able to ride in it as if temperatures were warmer.

jimbud

I'm in Northern Minnesota or what people in the Midwest call the Brainerd Lakes Area.

tarwheel 

Riding in the cold is no big deal if you just keep riding and acclimate to it, plus wear the right clothing. The first cold snap is always difficult, just like the first really hot weather in summer, but your body gets used to it. I actually like riding in cold much better than extreme heat. I quit riding last summer on days when the temperature was forecasted to top 100 degrees after trying it a few times. That was so hot it felt dangerous to me. But riding in the cold is no big deal if you have the right clothes, which is mostly about proper layering and protecting the extremities.

rapidcarbon

it's never too cold to ride, just too sissy to try

Tri-FatBoy

40f seems to be my cutoff. Least till a bit after x-mas when I get some more layers (:

substructure

correct - kind of

I've ridden in 17F but I moaned and groaned the whole way.

JasonJ

When I lived in Toronto and commuted to work, my temperature cut-off was -15 C (~ 5 F). At this temp I wore woolie socks, thermals under my windproof tights, a thermal base layer, a longsleeve jersey, a light Polarfleece top and then my windproof cycling jacket. I usually only wore a thermal headband so I wouldn't overheat waiting for lights, and thin polypro liners inside Pearl Izumi gloves. And my 8 km commute ususally took 20-25 minutes.

Any colder than this and it just wasn't any fun. Drivers don't tend to clean off their windows well when it's this cold, and Toronto drivers are bad enough on a nice day. I also wouldn't ride in snow for the same reason. And since I wear glasses, I always ran the risk of them steaming over, which is why I never wore a balaclava.

But now I work from home and my commute is the ten steps from my bedroom to my office.

JJ

Garfield Cat

I agree with the body adaptation to the climate. It takes time and the body will adapt. So its not a simple matter of something lacking in a person's will power to overcome obstacles. Just like it would be difficult to have a native Hawaiian adapt to a native Alaskan's climate and vice versa.

fprintf

Alrighty then, I am going to start going outside a little more often. I gotta just get used to it and tough it out.

omicron34

Just like JasonJ I'm still living in Toronto at the moment COldest I've been cycling was 14 degree Fahrenheit. By that time cold wasn't the only was lethal factor, snow, flurries, slick pavement. The body core tempurature was no problem in maintaining, just the toes and finger tips felt like they were about to fall off. I've stopped cycling at the moment because I'm getting too lazy to clean the bike off salt after each ride. Everyone should come up and experience the winter riding season

jimbud

One of the local TV stations did a short segment on some cyclist that ride the wide tire Mt. bikes set up for the snow. Looks like a blast.

Bob Ross

Seriously! My college girlfriend moved from Boston MA to Miami FL after she graduated. I went to visit her six months later, and she was wearing her down-filled winter parka on a 63°F evening!!!! Is there something in the water down there that turns everyone into wussies?

To the OP: I find the hardest part about winter riding not to be that it's too cold, but rather that I get too hot. It's a delicate balancing act finding the right clothes that will keep you warm enough without overheating.