nancy sv

If you had to choose between very cold and very hot, which would you choose? We are now touring in Costa Rica (just entered Panama) and it is very, very hot. I think this is much more difficult than it was through Wyoming in the fall - when temps dropped down to 12 degrees. I feel like I can always add morelayers when it is cold, but there is a limit to how much I can take off when it's hot.

What about you? which do you prefer?

Cyclebum

More layers. Cold just doesn't sap energy like heat. Harder to get going, but I can pedal longer in cold weather. Keep the core warm, and after about 30 minutes, everything else is ok. Don't have to carry nearly as much water or try to keep sweat from dribbling into my eyes. .

Quemal

I'll take the heat every time. I've cycled through snow, ONCE. With the heat, you can at least find some shade.

nancy sv

Sometimes. Around here, it can be dififcult to find a spot to sit in the shade unless we want to plop our bums in sopping wet muddy grass up to our waists! And even in the shade, it doesn't help all that much - we have sweat dripping off our noses while sitting at a bus stop taking a break!

Machka 

I've cycled in temps as low as -40C/F and as high as about +44C. I preferred +44C to -40C/F.


One of the places I encountered +44C was in Queensland, Australia in December on a cycling tour. What we did to help beat the heat was to wake up about 4:30 am and be on the road by about 5:30 am, and ride till noon or 1 pm or so, and then find some place to rest till about 4 pm when the sun started to go down, and then we'd continue for another hour or two. We did all our eating during the rest period so that when we got to a place to camp, it was just a matter of putting up the tent and going to sleep.

mev

From what I've read of your trip journals, I'd prefer cold and agree with right clothes, easier to bundle up for cold.

However, it depends a bit on how hot or how cold... I've commuted to work in temperatures as low as -10F. With clothing I had, I wouldn't want to ride much more than 20 miles or so and would find extended touring tough particularly if the grease in my hub started to congeal like on my mountain bike.

I'm normally quite comfortable up into the 90s in the dry heat we get in Colorado and have ridden as hot as 110F around Las Vegas. If it gets humid or suddenly a lot warmer, then I'll start to wilt and have enough.

So if it is in the 20F to 100F (dry) range, I'll prefer warmer to cooler. However when it dips out of that range then I'll prefer cooler to warmer.

jmio

my legs feel like sludge in cold temperatures, but I went cheap last winter and was wearing only the nashbar tights and they are horrible! I've become very acclimated to cold weather living in ohio and I was still FREEZING with those things. I have to come up with another alternative to those for this winter that should be coming up soon, any suggestions? I have a sweet PI jacket that keeps my upper body warm, just my legs were so cold.

Machka 

Winter Forum: https://www.bikeforums.net/winter-cycling/

valygrl

Either way, you'll find me wearing a nice climate-controlled hotel room.

Toronto girl ryder

I'll take the heat anytime anywhere! The cold makes me miserable - I think of touring as a holiday and I certainly don't want to be freezing on the bike! The heat, I welcome it.

nancy sv

You said it much better than me!! that's EXACTLY how I feel. I can handle hot and dry, but hate the humidity - and that's what Costa Rica has.

nancy sv

HA! That sounds good, but it ain't gonna happen in Costa Rica if you're traveling on a budget!

yeamac 

Why is it not obvious that hot is superior?

1. Precipitation: Cold can mean ice/snow. Dangerous or impossible to ride through. Hot would just be rain, which actually feels good when it is that hot out.

2. Cold stirs up images of being punished/banished; warmth is like being on a tropical vacation.

3. Cold I can't tell if its a man or woman bundled under all those clothes. Hot one gets to look at cleavage/a six pack (OK, sometimes a disgusting beer belly, but I'm trying to be biased here).

enigmagic

I actually don't know that I have a preference. Riding in the cold is simpler, less water, no sweat, and prodigious layering make it comfortable. Riding in hot weather I oddly find somewhat pleasant, if a bit more exhausting, the feeling of sunlight warming your skin is, I dunno, inspiring or something.

The only weather I really dread is hail, which I've ridden through once, and freezing rain, which is just plain uncomfortable and hard to defend against. I can almost feel my good mood escaping when I feel that first trickle of freezing water down my shoes or the back of my next.

nancy sv

My experiences in the past month or two have led me to believe that cycling in the heat may actually me MORE dangerous than in the cold! In the cold, I can at least pile more layers on and eventually get to the point where I´m not freezing. In the heat, however, I can't peel off any more. There have been a couple of days when I have drank over THREE GALLONS of water - and still not peed at all! We bought some of the rehydration salts and have been using them, but it just seems like some days we lose WAY more than we can possibly take in. That seems like a much more dangerous situation than cold.