neilfein

This wasn't my first time touring in the winter, but the first one I'd call a proper "Winter tour" - e.g., cold, windy, icy, and snowing. I'm really getting into winter riding, and I'm considering studded tires (if I can find a pair in 7000x32 that will clear my fenders).

Machka suggested I post this here. (Like I need an excuse...) I'd be curious to get feedback on this. What could I have done to make this easier?

The full story is on CG, but here's the gist.

Friday afternoon: 8 miles, from Port Jervis to Wantage. I rode on the train from Union to Port Jervis, NY. Ended up on a rush hour train with a loaded touring bike, not an experience I'd care to repeat. Riding over High Point at night in 4 defrees F is an experience I'm glad I had, but have no desire to repeat. (At least not without warmer clothes and a supplemental oxygen tank.) High Point is beautiful at night. I haven't seen stars that bright in a long time.

Saturday: Wantage to Stanhope, 36 miles. This is an awesome ride, and I'd love to repeat this day sometime. Hilly but not tortuously so, quiet roads, and beautiful, lonely scenery. Dee's Place in Branchville has very good hash browns.

Sunday: Stanhope to Bridgewater, 42 miles. Getting out of Stanhope on 183/206 sucks. Once you get out of town, it's very pretty. The roads through the woods near Chester are beautiful. The Whistling Swan Inn in Stanhope is a great place for touring cyclsits. The owners are roadies and the palce is very tastefully decorated. (My room had an awesome claw-footed tub.)

Lessons learned:

• Quiche is not a good breakfast before riding, since it's mostly air.
• I need better gloves, and more thin layers
• I ordered better boots - mine are old and the leather is thin.
• Pacing is even more important in cold weather.
• Boogers freeze at 4 degrees F.
• A two-legged kickstand gives you very good stability when parked on ice and snow.

Thanks!

pwdeegan

i've been thinking about chemical foot/toe warmers, since winter for me, however intense it seems, is relatively short; and i'm not trekking hardcore enough to warrant $250 boots---well, at least not in this economy. any luck with these warmers, or have you considered them?

i never noticed the boogers, for the nose-icicles already hanging down and blocking access. thank goodness i'm married to a woman who claims to love me for who i am, and not how i look!

neilfein

I'm in a similar situation, but it's not so much that winter is short, it's more that I rarely cycle in cold weather that's that cold. I can't see buying yet another pair of boots just for cycling, but booties may be the way to go. I'll have to experiment.

I used chemical warmers in my gloves, but they didn't work very well. Do those things age? I bought them last summer.