patentcad

I'm good down to 20º, sometimes colder, ride daily all winter. Snowstorms stop me, frozen crap on the roads - but that's rarely more than 2 days or so. Here's what I can tell you:

• You need a schedule that allows mid-day riding, or all bets are off. I'm self employed.

• Your body is a furnace. It provides all the heat you'll ever need. Your challenge is to figure out what clothing to wear to trap that heat. Trial and error. I can look at the thermometer and know precisely what garments will work for those conditions.

• You will need a knobby tired MTB for days when the roads are too sloppy/slick for your road bike.

• You need to tailor your riding to the conditions: I will often pick my route dependent on the wind direction - I always like to START with a tail wind. Nothing's much worse than a stiff head wind in the winter before you're warmed up.

• I am often cold for the first 5 minutes or so - but I hit that first 1/2 mile uphill and by the middle of the short climb the initial chill subsides.

The rewards for figuring out how to deal with winter cold on a road bicycle are substantial. But don't tell anyone, we'll keep it our little secret. I LIKE having large state parks to myself on dazzlingly gorgeous February mornings : ). I can ride for an hour and see ZERO cars/people. Love it.

I had 2900 miles accumulated for 2006 by April 1. I do ride more miles in the warmer weather, but the winter doesn't crimp my style too much all things considered. This is the beginning of my third winter of daily riding on the bike, and I'm starting to like it more and more. The cold doesn't phase me like it did in the beginning. It's 50% mental and 50% learning how to deal with it by dressing right/picking your routes, etc. Last year I had a few rides in conditions that I would have previously deemed untenable, and I ENJOYED them:

• 25 miles in the 15-18º*cold on my MTB (OK, didn't enjoy THAT ride too much)

• Got caught out in unexpected snow squalls twice on my 700 x 23c tire road bike, 40-60 mins. in semi-blizzard conditions, the road stayed tractable until I got home on both occasions.

• 63 miles on Xmas day last year, the last 35 miles in the 43º rain, the last 20 in the POURING 43º rain. It was fine.

Which only goes to show that once you're warmed up on a bicycle you can tolerate just about anything. Getting started is always the hardest part of the ride. This isn't about being 'dedicated' or 'hard core' or any of that nonsense. It's about maintaining sanity for me. I go NUTS when I don't ride. And my chronic back pain is much worse when I don't get out every day. Double motivations some cyclists don't have (I didn't 15 years ago, now I do). Coping with the elements seems the lesser of two evils to me.

I was OFF my bike with back issues for five long years. Now every day on the bike and active is great. Which is why getting dropped by the fast guys really doesn't bother me much anymore. Most of the things that used to bother me about riding doesn't these days. I'm just happy to be riding ANYWHERE, at all. Cycling is a gift, and I never realized how MUCH of a gift it is until I lost it. I've been back for the better part of two years now and my perspective has permanently shifted to a better place.

To paraphrase 'Get Smart':

Chief: 'Max, you'll be riding in the freezing cold, wind, snow, sleet and rain on days when no sane agent would EVER be out on their road bike. You'll face danger at every turn.'

Max: 'AND....LOVING it!'