chefisaac

Get a great set of lights..... Planet Bike Tail light and at least 1000 lumens upfront. You will be golden.

It's also time for you to start getting winter cycling wear. Doesnt need to be specific to cycling per say but layers are wonderful. Gloves and barmitts help a lot too. Face mask as well. Winter riding and cold weather riding require a different skill set that you should learn because this time of year can be a real blast to ride in.

Riding around busy areas just requires another skill set too but one that is needed and great to learn.

Dont give up how much you are riding. Just learn the skill set and go for it.

chefisaac

Consider underarmour stuff. They are nice! For wind breaking, try this:

https://www.bicycleclothing.com/Wind-Jackets.html

They are awesome and the sizing is very generous.

lsberrios1 

I actually went and got some liners for my full gloves and I have to say they did not work at all but in this case made it worse. I think the gloves without liners were better at 36 degree weather. I am assuming that the material of the liner absorbs the sweat and freezes it up. It wasn't that bad at 43 average but it wasnt ideal either.

That skinny - fat equation... me no likey. It definitely sucks having to work hard to get what you had! Why not keep it??? I dont even want to know what will happen when I get old and grumpy. That unicyling training sounds quite fun! Please post some pictures and if you can juggle something while at it BETTER! . Seriously though, running might be a better alternative as a winter sport.

Definitely learning something new every day. Either riding in the rain (like today), riding against mean traffic (atlanta traffic) or feeling comfortable in the dark make this hobby a really challenging one. Probably the hardest thing to learn is breathing in the cold with my nerdy asthma. I wish I would stop smoking as well... So embarrased.

I have a 300 lumen light and two bike planet trail lights on the back. One blinking and one steady. I would like more lumens on the front but my wallet now weighs less than a carbon fibre bottle cage since Ive been spending so much on this little hobby.

All in all it was a pretty good ride. A little bit annoyed by the rain but it gave out about 5 to 10 miles into the ride so the rest was fairly good. I got very excited when I saw a nice pack of riders coming the other way. From a distance it seemed like an odd UFO space ship and when they passed me they waved hello and said good morning that made me happy.

There are good news and not so good new with the new gear though... The bibs - GREAT. The beenie cap - GREAT. The liners - meh... and the shoe covers - BAD. I cannot really blame the shoe covers. Since I got my fit last saturday, extra support was added to the part of the toes and that made a tighter fit. Since I had the fit with my regular riding socks the shoes fit very tight when wearing the wool ones. This was ok fot the first 10 miles or so, but sucked but the rest of the 20 mile ride. My toes got numb and tingly to a point that it hurt a little. I could see how it would have been an improvement if they were thinner socks but this wasn't the case.

So, another question. Are there thin socks that insulate from the cold and are made from a impermeable material? I would like to wear my S works shoes instead of the old shimanos which were 2 sizes big... That could be an alternative but please recommend socks!

ILClyde

Really? California and S. Carolina? You guys are killing me.

I don't know if these qualify as thin (obviously thin-ness and warmth are subjective) but I'll throw out a general sock idea. I use baseball socks in the winter. I find them very warm and they go up to my knees which, well, the more areas covered by multiple layers the better. Soccer socks are an alternative to this. They can usually be found at a fairly reasonable price at any sporting good store. (More baseball players that cyclists = more demand = cheaper prices. I love when Econ 101 works in my favor!)

chefisaac

What shoe covers are you using? And are you using them to keep your feet dry? Have you tried these?

Socks.... how cold of weather are you riding in? Around 45 or lower on longer rides and 38 and lower on my commute into work, I wear Neoprene socks. If you would like the link, let me know. I can shoot you the ones I bought.

Astrozombie

I'm a total wimp right now, haven't been on a ride in a month But i do still need a balaclava and some winter gloves....then maybe boots. The worst part has to be sucking in all that cold air though, you feel like you're going to be sick the next day.

TrojanHorse

Speaking of killing me... East LA and you need a balaclava and winter gloves? and you did say "sucking in all that cold air"



C'mon, it's chilly here, not cold.

Fangowolf

I agree on the cold, I will ride in 100 degrees without thinking about it, but drop below 60 and I want layers. Last two nights rides I had to cut short because my ninja hood hasn't arrived yet. Yea its only 49 degrees, but hey I'm not comfortable

lsberrios1 

This sounds like a fairly easy and cheap solution to my problems. The only problem with that is that I believe baseball socks arent thin enough... Lets see. Thanks!

Please send me the link! That is the sock material I was trying to remember and now you got it. For some reason I suspect neoprene socks are thinner than Wool and better at maintining heat and keeping the cold away. All I really need is for 20 to 25 mile rides.


For the rest of you guys HTFU !!!

lsberrios1 

Breaking news! After looking all day, i finally acted out of desperation. I bought a pair of assos socks that are like plastic or something like that. Apparently rhey are super thin and are worn with regular bike socks, not wool ones. They are supposed to be unnoticeable when worn with road shoes and even though they are quite expensive they seem to be the best thing out there. I will be receiving them next week and if they dont work ill simply return them. Wish me luck. Ill come back with another ride report.

ChuckD6421 

Done all the above. I was commuting megamiles year round before there was such a thing as 'booties'. Maybe that's why I now have such poor circulation in my feets.

Now I have a membership at the YMCA where it's spinning for the winter weekdays. For weekend road work I finally sprung for a pair of the Sidi winter boots and found a pretty cheap pair of the Sidi Toasters on eBay. That's the ticket. Then it's just trial and error learning what kind of layers you need.

During the transition period where it's still daylight when I get home from work, but will be dark when I finish a ride (and I'm not mentally ready to go to the Y) I picked up a pair of the Ixon IQ Speeds for my handlebars and a pair of Princeton Tec SWERVE blinkers for the rear (redundancy is good, and cheap, for the tail lights anyway). But I've found night time riding to be tedious.

gyozadude

Yeah, what a drag. Lights in the morning. Lights in the evenings. California just sucks with this 49 F morning and haze that burns off. It's almost an acceptable 61 F now during the day. Total bummer. I actually had to wear long-sleeves. And do you know how hard it is to find a local shop that sells 3XLT neon reflector vests (like the kind road workers wear). :-)

I've only ridden with the kids to school 3 times this week - oh yeah, it's Thursday and Monday they had off for Veterans Day so we only could ride 3 times. And I only rode into work just 4 times this week. Yeah, really sucks right now in California to be riding to work. And when I need to flip a motorist off, they can't see my middle finger (pardon the French) in the dark. Makes me want to get lighted gloves. :-)

Next week - some rain/drizzle. I might have to put on pants to ride to work. God forbid - fenders! Oh yeah, I have a bike with fenders already installed. Forgot about that...

Arvadaman

+1 on the thrift store merino.

I just put on my new XXL, $6.00, 100%
merino wool sweater.

Nice and toasty warm!