CNC2204

Normally after a 50 mile ride i feel great i did it last sunday it was 65 degrees.

Today its 30 and my toe covers didnt cut it, my feet froze.
Havent felt frostbite biting my feet since a kid in the 70's.

Im just wore out like someone who cant catch their breath after running [but my breathings fine].

800mg IBprofen and epsom bath later feeling a bit better but still off.

What gives ?

Machka 

You got chilled.

You may also be dehydrated ... people tend to drink less when it is cold. Make yourself a tall hot beverage, and then follow it with a glass of water.


Also ... we've got a Winter Cycling forum which may help you with your clothing choices:
https://www.bikeforums.net/winter-cycling/

dralways

Effort? 50 miles mild effort feels much better than 10 miles hard effort.

That and Im sure the cold air had it's effect on the respiratory.

RogueRadio

Its basically a chill. You got "winter winded". It happens a fair amount in sub 45º weather, and I am constantly battling it too. I get more cramps in the cold, way more dehydrated, and worst is the head cold feeling you get, where you just feel tired the rest of the day. Best way to combat this is a good, extra warm Balaclava or head cover, a solid windstop material baselayer, and thick shoe covers.

Ricanfred

I use chemical toe warmers in below freezing temps. They really help; imo. Riding in the cold always feel harder to me. Also way slower; no clue why even after extensive research.

DXchulo

A variety of reasons: SlowerInWinter

dalava

Not the right answer based on my personal experience. You want your windstopper on the outside, not inside. A wool-based form fitting baselayer with windstopper outer jacket/jersey would be much more comfortable.

PaulRivers

Yeah, I agree as well.

My dad had this idea to ride in the winter with a rain jacket. Like a normal non-breathable one. I had bought an extremely breathable rain jacket (showers pass elite jacket). We biked for a while, stopped at a restaurant. I was fine, he was light headed, didn't feel good, just felt exhausted.

I bought him one of the showers pass jackets for christmas. We went riding again. No more light headedness, feeling weird, etc.

I still had a tiny bit of it, I've been thinking of buying something made out of Windstopper material that's supposed to be far more breathable, but also windproof. When I tried riding before windproof gear I would always slowly get more and more cold as the ride went on, when I got windproof stuff that didn't happen any more.

Don't know what the Op was wearing, but if you're wearing something that's not breathable (let's the evaporated sweat breath through the fabric) it can really make you feel like crap.

Lazyass

You just have to toughen yourself up. Ibuprofin and bath salts are for females. Next thing you know you'll be doing yoga and drinking herbal tea. The cold is all in your head. As long as your skin isn't turning black then you're good.

banerjek

And way more effective. The base layer wicks sweat away from your body while creating an insualating layer so you lose less heat via conductive transfer. The breathable out layer keeps the wind out while letting the sweat evaporate nice and far from your body. When it's cold and dry enough, I've actually had ice form on the outside of my jacket from the sweat.

Looigi

I use a 750 Watt heater. When I'm riding at 250W, my bod generates 750W of waste heat due to its ~25% efficiency at converting food to mechanical work.

banerjek

What's the Ibuprofen for? If it's because your toes hurt like hell when you started warming them up, it's because you warmed them up too quickly. If you did that, you may have sent loads of blood into constricted vessels -- this can do actual damage. This is why they warm up hypothermia victims slowly. You can't get frostbite at 30°F even if you can do things that hurt plenty.

What did you do for socks? Thin wool socks and something to keep the wind off your feet would help, but depending on how sensitive you are to cold, it might or might not be enough. Don't wear thick socks with your regular shoes or you'll cut off circulation and freeze.

Machka 

So have I!

CNC2204

I ordered full shoe insulated covers and toe warmers.

My riding partner said he felt the same way all day yesterday and stayed in bed.

Musta been "frozen biker syndrome".

He is a Triathlete, he's 54, im 51.

He wanted to do 60 miles yesterday but now way did i have another 20 in me.

This sunday sunny & 54 degrees.

Feeling better today but taking 2 days off the saddle.

CNC2204

https://www.google.com/search?q=unde...89775468273645

I wore these socks.

Just my toes/feet were cold during the 3rd hour of 30 degree riding.

The airflow was deep freezing my feet.

Bunyanderman

Being a former basketball player, I slap on some Nike Elites for the cold days. Thickest socks I own.

PaulRivers

At the risk of stating the obvious...if you had overflow inside your shoes, either you need more "full shoe" shoe covers, or different shoes entirely. I've seen shoes with a hole on the bottom that was supposed to help with airflow, going to be a problem in the winter though.

CNC2204

1st year road riding.
First year for road shoes which are vented on top and bottom.

I had toe covers on top and the bottom vents duct taped closed but pulled off the tape last week cuz it was 70 degrees.

I have alot of cold gear this year compared to last.

I just spent $4300 on a 2015 TARMAC ELITE and another $700 on a 2014 CROSSTRAIL earlier this year.

Im not made of money.

The shoe covers & toe warmers will do the trick or ill just wait til spring ...

jon c. 

I'd have to be a little off to start such a ride.

(But I admire those who can do it.)

Machka 

Check out my article about cold feet ... compiled from many years of experience in bitterly cold Canadian winters ...

Charlene Barach (Machka) - Cold Feet

PaulRivers

Lol, see, I have the exact opposite attitude. There's absolutely no reason after spending $5,000 on bikes this year, that I would not spend another $30 on full shoe covers or $100-$200 on shoes that didn't have vents (or at least didn't have vents on the bottom).

That would be like "Look, I just spend $30k on this sports car, there's no way I have the money for gas!" lol. Just doesn't make sense.

You don't happen to wear size 11 or 11.5 shoes do you? If you do I have a pair of road shoes and a pair of mountain bike shoes in a box at home that I was going to donate to goodwill that I would sell you for the cost of shipping. They're in good shape, but the mtn shoes are a little to silver for my taste and the road shoes I'm going towards wearing a "wide" pair and they're a little older (but nowhere near worn out) so I have no use for them.

Otherwise, I'd keep an eye out on craigslist or ebay.

But unless your plan is to just ride in the winter, no way I'd be riding at 30 degrees fahrenheit with a shoe with a hole in the bottom. I wouldn't consider that a luxury item, I'd consider that something that has to be fixed in order to ride at all. No point in dropping $5,000 on bike gear that I can't use because of something a far smaller amount of money couldn't fix.

Long Tom

I've felt weird after long cold rides.

OP: adjust, adapt, HTFU, and don't you dare stop riding!

Machka 

+1

No need to take a couple days off.


To the OP ... when you get in from a cold ride, what has worked for me is:

-- tall glass of water
-- hot shower or bath ... might have to ease into it because the toes are cold
-- change into something warm and comfy
-- turn the heat up in the house
-- eat and drink ... more water + maybe a coffee
-- keep hydrating through the evening
-- go to bed a little bit earlier that night

CNC2204

PM'd ....


Thanks to all the responses, me and my chaffing thank you.

Getting out today [but not for 3 hours].

Long Tom sounds like my Company Commander in boot camp ...lol

Long Tom

I find with winter riding in particular, you just can't let yourself start making excuses or it won't happen. My riding buddy gets into excuse-mode a lot in the winter. No fenders on his bike and the pavement is wet... it might rain... it's cold and my feet get cold... yeah yeah yeah. Anyway I just didn't want to see you give up. I'm also of a certain age (49) and for guys like us, you just gotta DO IT or you quickly turn into a hairy, low-T pudding.

Wow... I just made myself slightly ill. :-)

Anyway... one thing I do on really cold days is avoid the flats. Buzzing along at 20 mph is... cold. Climbing steep long hills is warm... until the downhills at least. And they are over fast.

HOWEVER proper clothing is really important if you climb in the cold. You gotta move body moisture out. I don't know enough to say what's "best" but in general what works for moi is appropriate base layer- usually mid or expedition weight Capilene or equivalent- then an appropriate mid layer, then the important outer layer... It's gotta be wind proof and it's gotta let moisture out. I've had good results from a Gore Windstopper cycling jacket but I'm sure there's lots of other great options.