Originally Posted by
scarleton
I went for a 43 mile ride Sunday and it was one of those gloomy winter days with tick clouds, damp, and 36 deg fahrenheit. I was wearing three layers, a thermal base layer, thermal jersey over that and finally a cycling jacket over that isn't thermal, has some thickness to it.
When I got home, the two bottom layers where totally soaked in sweat and the outer layer was anything but dry!
Is this normal? Am I wearing too much?
Now I normally sweet a bunch when I cycle, so it sort of seems normal. When I started out, I wasn't warm, but neither was I cold. When I come to a stop, thanks to the sweat, I cool down real fast. At one point in the ride I had a 1 mile downhill where I didn't pedal and was getting much colder then I liked (I knew I would be pedaling soon and would warm up).
So when cycling I am wet, but warm. When I stop, I am cool and wet. What can I do to make things more comfortable when cycling in this cooler weather?
Here's a few ideas you can try, but I think after a few years of experience in riding in winter that you are always going to be somewhat wet underneath because it's not possible if you are a heavy sweater to dry out that much sweat in winter conditions.
Base layer: I think it's best if it is a thin very open weave poly type fabric. What you want is the kind of base layer that cross-country skiers wear. You'll be surprised at how light it is. It will not stay dry but it will wick enough to keep you warm if you have the right insulation layers on. When you hold it up to your face you can almost see through it and you can easily breath through it. Don't use a cotton based thermal base layer. They are not good for sweating activities.
Thicker but very breathable insulation layers work better for me than cycling jerseys. Fleece runners jacket works really well. Or something similar but a little thicker. Make sure it's the cheap kind of fleece that does not have a membrane in it to block the wind.
Outer layer is the hardest to get right because you need enough wind resistance to keep from freezing but enough breathability to help dry you out a little bit. You'll have to experiment with this. For guys who are heavy sweaters and stay warm easy while exercising it's probably best to just wear a thin wind breaker which will let in more air than a cycling jacket which are usually some kind of Gore-Tex like material. I like to wear a soft shell fleece jacket with a shiney wind resistant outer finish. These type of fleece usually have some kind of wind resistant membrane. It's kind of like Power Shield material. It's a cheap winter jacket from Performance bikes that I only use in below freezing conditions.
Never use more than 3 layers.
Generally you can get by with one fewer layers on your legs. But the legs need to be right. If your legs are not warm enough you will have to compensate by wearing too much on the torso which makes it easier to pile up wet material. More breathable winter cycling tights help keep the legs warm but allow them to breath and wick away much of the sweat. This is probably the biggest mistake that winter cyclists make. They have too little on the legs and so have to compensate by wearing more on the torso.
Generally, I think that if it's cold enough that you need three layers on top then you need three layers on the pelvic and thigh area. At 36 degrees you could wear one thick cycling tight under your cycling shorts if you are cold tolerant and then some of those wind blocking cycling underwear or some compression shorts under it all. If you get cold easier then wear two layers on legs over cycling shorts to have three layers on pelvis and thighs.