Originally Posted by BigRedSnackFoam
Woohoo, my fastest morning leg this morning. On Wednesday it was 42 degrees and I vowed that my winter pants riding was over for the season. It was chilly but damned if I was going to throw those things on again. Well, this morning it was 34 degrees with frost all over everything. Great. It was close, I even pulled them out and started putting them on. Screw it! Shorts FTMFW! For the first mile or so I was thinking I might have to go back and put them on but once I really got going I was warm enough, even had to unzip my top layers to keep from sweating too much. Thankfully there was no wind, otherwise I would have had to put the pants on.
I Didn't get hit, always nice, but a lot of hookers (er... the car-turning-right kind) this morning. I didn't have to take any evasive action or braking so they weren't that close but it was discourteous. Beggers can't be choosers I guess.
Yikes! I can wear shorts down to the mid 30s. However, my performance suffers and my legs start hurting. If you are the type who rides in lycra, leg warmers are wonderful for the temps you mentioned. However, below 40 I put a lightweight pair of tights on top of them. Below freezing I leave the leg warmers at home and use a heavier performance tights.
I did see a guy riding in normal shorts with either tights or leg warmers the other day.
A certain amount of compression and warm legs help quite a bit in my experience. As an experiment one day at 45F I rode with just shorts. Later in the ride I added leg warmers. My speed picked up a tad. Nothing scientific. Just my experience. YMMV
Watch out for the hookers.
My ride this morning was nice and uneventful. I am still working at adapting to the tarmac. God the high gears kill me!