First winter of riding need some insight
 

This is my first winter of riding I've gotten lots of good warm gear it only gets down to 32 when i wake up early to ride here in So-Cal but that's still cold enough to cause some funky stuff with my body.

For all you winter riding veterans I was curious if it's normal to be getting scratchy throats more often and get colds more often when riding in the winter and the cold. Maybe this is an obvious yes but I've just been noticing since winter started my recovery time is slower, I've gotten colds more than normal, and as of lately my lungs get sore and tight and my throat gets scratchy.

Perhaps you'd like to check out the Winter Forum:
http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=53


And no, it's not normal to get a scratchy throat or cold when riding in the cold ... quite the opposite.

An increase in scratchy/raw throat, I agree to.

An increase in colds, I've got to dispute. I'm going on my third year of winter cycling and *every* time I feel a little sniffly or stuffy and ride, it's gone or the duration is shortened. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I truly believe that a brisk ride outside instead of staying in a germ-infested indoor room really helps blow the gunk out. The only other things I do to keep colds at bay is double my water intake and take a fizzy 1000mg vitamin C drink once a day. Might be a placebo, but I aint complaining. Mucinex is great for lessing sinus/chest congestion also.

I just found that i got sick after riding to hard after a long night of drinking at halloween then like 4 weeks later i got another cold after doing morning rides at 5:30 am and going to work. It's like my immune system was run down and being around sick people at my work left me vulnerable. Finally 3 weeks after that I went out for a really early ride and got cold symptoms but they went away by the next morning. I'm not used to getting sick this often I mean usually I get allergies at this time of the year but I figure it's because of the intense amount of exercise I was/am doing.

As far as the scratchy throat goes it's only if I go out and ride hard, like if I do a lot of climbing and get my heart rate near max.

Maybe it has more to do with the drinking than the slightly coolish weather.

Lol that was just once, but I don't know I just don't seem to be able to handle the back to back days of riding or doing days of riding and running together like I could in summer.

Maybe I had a bit of a lung infection and it's just sticking and hanging around as a minor thing.

when the body is tired, taxed, and/or run down it is more susceptible to sickness. you know this, but if you want to train hard you need to rest hard too. from what you are saying i dont think it has anything to do with the weather. you need to give the body rest after hard efforts and it doesnt matter if it was a hard ride or hard night of drinking. :) later.

It's definitely been better since I've started giving myself full days of rest or at least days of from cardio between cardio work outs. I think the sore throat is from the constant nasal drainage i've been experience since winter started I don't know. I have no fatigue, and I feel strong as hell on the bike, my throat and lungs just don't feel so great. I guess there must be some allergy causing my lungs to be irritated , or I've damaged them over training.

Highly unlikely.

It is more likely to be allergies (what are you allergic to in the winter? Nothing is blooming) or the fact that riding in the cold makes ones nose run. Or maybe your co-workers are bringing some extra virulent germs to the office this year and it has nothing to do with your cycling at all.