Originally Posted by
prj71
I don't like road riding in winter. You never work at it hard enough to stay warm and the wind chill riding at 15 - 18 mph also adds to the discomfort. The other added factor about trying to road ride in winter is road salt...it destroys bike components. At least on the fat bike when riding trails you actually have to work at it and you stay warm the whole time.
I guess I agree about the road riding part. I mostly gave up road riding in 1993. I still ride on roads but only to connect to the trails I want to ride.
OTOH, at least in our climate, dressing for winter riding can be handled. Lately, I aim more for “not freezing” than “warm”. It helps to have a base layer shirt that doesn’t feel clammy if it gets damp.
Last winter I usually wore a windbreaker which tends to get me a bit warm but then it also blocks the wind so there isn’t that much chill. If I can manage with several layers and no wind block, that seems even better.
In winter, there are fewer people on the trails and a different look with the leaves down. Very contemplative in the winter cold. Around here it mostly seems to be overcast, low 30s, windy and about to mist, rain or lightly snow.
Oh yeah, and eventually the trails start to have soft muddy patches that are fun to slog through.
I also like that at the end of a ride, I have to warm up about as much as cool down and in ten minutes I’m pretty much back to whatever passes for normal.
Otto