Originally Posted by
jlstrat
It was 15 degrees F here in Central PA yesterday and 12 this morning. I rode about 20 miles yesterday, and it was very hard work. I'm wondering if other cyclists here ride fewer miles in this kind of weather, of if they just don't ride at all.
I ride through the Minneapolis winters, most cold rides are commutes (10-12 miles one-way).
Yesterday was about 20-25F and I did about 30 miles running errands on my summer commuter with winter tires (studded front), this slowed me down a lot. I typically ride this bike in the summer at 16-18 mph, yesterday was 12 mph average speed. The muscles just aren't happy at these temps.
I will go out for fun rides on cold days too, last year I did 24 miles in sub-zero weather. I have the gear for cold weather and I enjoy these rides.
Edit - after thought. I'm a Strava-geek... Yesterday's ride had a 'suffer score' of 130, similar rides in the summer have 'suffer scores' of 37. Winter riding is a lot more work for the body and there are many reasons for that. (The
Strava Suffer Score is an analysis of your heart rate data.)