KevinmH9

Plan on going for a ride on the weekend supposed to be rather cold with temperatures in the high 30's to low 40's I was curious what you all do to same warm during these kind of rides without having to put on more layers of clothes. I am sure when you really get going you warm up, but the beginning of the ride will be tough because of the cold and your muscles being really stiff.

Portis

What to do to stay warm? Pedal. I am heading out in the morning, temp is supposed to be 25 F. We have snow on the ground. I am not worrying about staying warm. What generally happens, is I get too warm. The proper clothing will keep you warm but not to warm.

You can search this forum to learn how to dress for cold weather. Enjoy your ride, and don't worry about the cold.

landrover

30s to 40s?...that's a heatwave in Chicago...

unlike my spring rides, i don't stop during the winter ones..once i'm warm, i keep pedaling...coasting to regroup and sipping water as i ride.
bundle up and enjoy!!

astompa

You could try embrocation. Rubs that racers use to warm up the muscles.

kappa_italia13

make sure you have good shoe covers and good gloves. thats all that matters for me.

operator

Ditto that.

Juha

I think the biggest problem is to stay warm and yet not sweat too much. Changing layers in the middle of a ride can be a hassle, especially if you have to do it outside. For longer rides I dress up to what I think is adequate (personal experience is the only thing that helps here, really), then try to fine tune my temperature during the ride by varying the effort. If I feel chilly, I'll just ride a little bit faster.

If it is cold (close to 0C or below), you will need an extra jacket to wear during breaks or in case of a mechanical problem. I just rode 60kms in the night at temperatures around 0C, and could not keep comfortably warm during the roadside breaks (this was rural area, no gas stations or truck stops available). I was OK when riding, sweating a bit but not too much. For breaks I added an oversize, warm fleece jacket, drank hot tea, tried to move around a bit, but I still felt cold after a couple of minutes. First kms of riding after a break were never very pleasant.

--J

Diggy18

Juha, how were you making hot tea? Do you bring along some kind of camping stove?

Juha

No, I had hot water in thermos, plus some teabags and honey.

--J

Diggy18

Where do you put that, in a trunk bag or backpack?

Hey by the way, how many hours of sun are you getting up there nowadays?

recursive

Apparently I don't get cold very easily. I wear shorts and a tshirt down to about 40 degrees, and am still sweating when I get home. Below that, I wear warm gloves. When it gets down to 30, I'll put on a long sleeve fleece and wind pants. I have yet to get cold in this at any temperature so far, (down to about 20) other than my toes, which I can deal with. I suspect it will continue to get colder, so we'll see how it goes.

steveknight

you better be caurefol you will screw up your knee's bigtime.
try that when it is 37 and 90% humidity you will change that fast (G) dry winters are really nice it's easy to keep warm damp will really get you.

Juha

I was going away for weekend, so I had panniers. As for sun, today (Thrusday) sunrise was at 8:59, sunset will be at 15:20. The shortest day around here will be 9:24 - 15:13 in Winter Solistice (sp?), but way up in Northern Finland they have not seen sun at all for a week already.

--J

kurremkarm

It was 28 with a 12 mph headwind when i went to breakfast-- feels like 18. I wore thermal underwear, jeans, a t-shirt, a windbreaker, a stocking cap under my helmet, and jersey gloves. I was aware that it was cold outside, but my legs were fine because of the thermal underwear. If it was really cold i would have wore my winter coat.

coney

You'll need something to keep the wind off, but at the same time, not let you get too hot. At the current time, at 40*, I wear long johns, cut off cargo pants, a long sleeved shirt and a wind breaker on top, with gloves. Its perfect.

I've read many times that you should feel a little chilled when you first start out, that means you won't get too sweaty and hot when you get rolling. Also, it's better to keep your legs/knees warm, and vent the top.

coney

Wow, so that's why they started making those full spectrum light bulbs for you guys. I can't imagine having that much lack of sunlight!

Juha

Funny you should mention that, I have one of those lights right here on my desk as I type. But for me, it's the snow that makes the dark season easier to tolerate. And we get compensation during the summer, when the sun does not set at all in the North. The nights are quite bright even where I live, so I have absolutely no use for my bike lamps for weeks in June-July.

--J