Originally Posted by
Juha
Moving is the best way of maintaining body temperature in cold weather. That's why you start to shiver when you're cold enough, muscle movement warms up your body. Being surrounded by cold air doesn't make your muscles slower or weaker per se. Elite XC skiers cover 50km of very demanding competition track in about 2 hours, in temperatures anywhere down to -15C. I know I would be hard pressed to ride the same track in summer in that time. The temperature limits in international competitions (-15C means precautions, -25C means delayed or cancelled competition) are to avoid frostbites on exposed skin (face) and effect of cold air in lungs. And those limits are for professional athletes, in a sustained exercise at the top of their performance. Their muscles seem to be doing fine.
You should add that those skiers don't wear much in the way of insulation, just some thin base layers and a toque...
In conditions where I ride, cold air is more of a psychological factor, if even that. In my experience, biggest slowing factors for me as a commuter and utility cyclist are rolling resistance (caused by studded tyres, lower PSI and snowy/soft surface), extra weight and layers on self. In very cold weather, drivetrain and hub lubricants, although those tend to warm up somewhat during riding.
--J
Yup, of course you will feel the cold, but ARE you cold? I think too many people dress like they shouldn't feel the cold and end up being cold due to overheating and sweat. You can run naked in the winter if you wanted too, the trouble comes when you stop. You will then lose the battle to generate enough heat... THEN it is time to layer up with your dry insulations. There was some mad professor around here who did this to prove a point, went out into the winter and survived the night with almost no gear... simply by moving. OF course, below -25C i don't recommend
