agarose2000

1. How much time does it take you to get your winter biking gear on?

2. What are your conditions of winter riding for such gear?

3. How far do you ride?

Just curious. I'm contemplating cycling when I move even in freezing or subfreezing temps, but I'd like to get a sense of what's realistic for commuting.

tsl

It takes me less time in winter than it does in the 'tween seasons. I'm five or six minutes from the bathroom door to the front door. In the 'tween seasons that's closer to 10 or 11.

My heavy winter tights slip on much more easily than my mid-weight ones, or even my lightweight ones. My Lake winter cycling boots keep my feet warm without having to put on several pairs of socks. I just step in and go. In the 'tween seasons, just putting the booties on over my shoes is a project. Same goes for my hands. My winter gloves are warm enough I don't need a second pair like I do in the 'tween seasons.

Edit: Forgot to answer the other questions. That's for what I wear from freezing to nearly the single digits. The only thing that varies in there is one shirt or two. In the single digits I add kneewarmers under my tights.

I also wear the same no matter what the distance is of my ride. My commutes are under a half-hour, and I frequently join an all-winter group ride that's 2 to 2― hours, plus my ride to the ride and back home.

agarose2000

Dang - commuting by bike during the winter in Rochester NY is HARD-CORE!

xtrajack

I don't have much cycling specific gear.

Last winter, I rode down to 0 F. I wore long underwear, wool socks, Carhartt work pants, Hermon Survivor steel toe shoes (required for work). On top I wore long underwear, t shirt, BDU shirt, a L.L. Bean windbreaker. I taped up the vents on my helmet. On my hands I wore either ski gloves or snowmobile mittens, depending on the temperature. I wore the mittens when it was colder. I also wore a chill choker or a balaclava as required with 180's ear muffs.

The only thing I am planning on changing is the windbreaker and the footwear. I am swapping out the Hermons for L.L. Bean snow sneakers. I am swapping out the windbreaker for a J&G jacket.

My normal commute is 6 miles one way.

I am not sure how much longer it takes to get dressed for the ride. I do know that it takes me longer to actually get to work, roughly 15 minutes or so.

teamontherun

LOL I feel like a fool answering this as my location is very bike friendly.

On my commutes I wear a long sleeve thermal, dickies, 2 pairs of socks, Fox Gloves, and a beanie. Takes all of 4 min.

45F is about the coldest I have riden in.

usually between 6-15 miles.

chipcom 

Winter only means more layers for the most part, so I figure it takes me maybe 5 more minutes to get dressed and out the door...tops. When it gets into the single digits and below it might take a little longer, since that is when I break out the balaclava, goggles, grumpy old man hat, etc.
My current commute is only 5 miles each way, so life is much simpler than it was when it was 15-25+

PaulH

1 About a minute or two. Gortex pants, hooded coat, ski gloves, and totes over my shoes. Everything goes on over suit and tie.
2 Minimum temperatures here are about 8 F
3 Ten miles each way
4 Most of my morning is getting my daughter ready for school. Once that is accomplished, I throw on my winter clothing and bolt out the door.


Paul

travelmama

Why ask when how long it takes us means nothing to you? You should get up early and ready for work so that you know what you need to do.

tsl

Not compared to some people around here. The guys in Manitoba and Alberta are wearing shorts in what's called cold weather around here.

MNBikeguy

Don't do this:



Remember when you could throw your little brother down a cliff in the winter and he wouldn't get hurt or even feel anything? Now THAT'S layering......

cyclezealot

IN a mediterranean climate all you need is bib tights , a base layer, and a windstopper light weight jacket... with the need for shoe covers a scarf about one's ears. Maybe 45 more seconds..

electrik

3-5minutes, after i change out of work clothings... what is the worst is deciding you better take a whiz after getting it all on!

hshearer

For my 15-minute commute, I take about 3 minutes at each end to get dressed/undressed (jacket, wind pants, gloves, neoprene facemask, snowboarding helmet, over my regular clothes). I also have some lightweight pogies on my bike to block the wind. That's been comfortable for me to below -40F/C (not counting windchill), although my head and core tend to overheat while my feet and, sometimes, legs, get chilly.

For recreational rides (2 hours or more), it can take me about 10-15 minutes to get dressed, because I do a lot more layering (as opposed to just tossing on one jacket) and wear a couple pairs of tights under my windpants. I lose the will to go for recreational rides when it gets below about -20C/-4F, though.

irclean

I have a short commute so I just wear a PVC rainsuit over my street clothes with a fleece hoodie for added warmth. I also wrap a dollar-store shower cap over my helmet to keep the moisture out (when I get to school I wrap it over my saddle.) Waterproof winter boots for my feet (work great with my studded platform pedals), and a rain cover for my pannier. I budget an extra 10 minutes to get my poop in a group. This morning I forgot to do up the fly on my PVC pants so when I got to school it looked like I peed my pants. Sigh.

tjspiel

It takes from 5 to 10 minutes depending on how many layers I need that day, if I can skip the goggles or not, etc. It also depends on what I have available vs. what's in the laundry, if I can remember where I put my gloves and if I remembered to put the Heart Rate Monitor* on before all the other stuff.

My basic winter garb includes:

1. Amfib bib tights over bike shorts or tights (I also have other variations)
2. wool socks
3. cycling shoes with booties
4. base layer top, fleece pullover, shell
5. ski gloves
6. open face balaclava

This is good down to about 0 degrees. Below that I need ski goggles, ski mask, and maybe an additional layer for trunk and legs depending on how cold and how windy. I might also choose to wear my ice fishing mitts instead of gloves.

My commute is 6 miles each way.

*the HRM is completely optional but I'm a geek and so far am enjoying the stats I get from wearing it.

jyossarian

No time difference. What I wear on the bike is what I'd wear if I took the subway w/ the exception that I might wear a lighter jacket on the bike than on the subway. Winter mostly hovers around 30 +/- 5F. My ride's only 2 miles.

audi666

1. Usually takes about 10-12 minutes. Dont have great gear but hopefully after the holidays ill get a few new items : )

Right now I have some tights that I stole from my gf, cycling shorts, pair of heavy synthetic socks wrapped in a bag until I get some covers for the cycling shoes, tight long sleeve base layer, hoodie, scarf type of thing, hat, and gloves.

2. It hasnt gotten too cold here yet in the mornings/evenings, maybe the lowest in 20s at 6am.

3. My commute is a little over 30 miles a day.

ItsJustMe

Less than 5 minutes. The MOST I put on is in the -15*F or colder range; at this point I'm wearing the following:

bike shorts, cheap running tights, thermal long underwear, cheap running pants, poly sock liner, wool socks, high top hunting boots (platform pedals)
compression base layer, long sleeve poly T shirt, poly sweatshirt, vented rain jacket, with most of the zippers closed
thinsulate hunting gloves
poly fleece scarf wrapped to cross in front of my chest as an extra windbreak, neoprene face mask, gaiter, helmet, goggles with prescription insert.

That's the absolute max load-out. Usually I'm wearing a lot less than that, and I get dressed in more like 3 minutes.

The other thing that adds a bit of time in the winter is keeping light batteries charged.

scoatw

It takes me less than 10 mins to put my gear on for that cold ride tom'rw in 18f.This will be my third winter of riding everyday.

gerv 

One of the benefits of not wearing a watch is that you don't need to worry about how long things are taking.

I guess it takes a while. But it's what I need to do to get going.

When I drive a car, I never try to figure how much time I'm wasting filling the gas tank or scraping ice off the windshield.

ItsJustMe

Yeah, in the wintertime, if I drive it definitely takes me longer from bed to road if I drive than if I ride.

Of course, I still have to shovel the driveway, because my wife might need to get out of the house during the day in the car. So I don't have the hour savings that I would have if I didn't have to shovel.

pho_number1

1. over 5 minutes.
2. anything except days when it snows heavily and if the streets are not plowed
3. 3 miles there and back.

grolby

Your average speed on your commute to work is 24 mph? While wearing heavy winter gear? Okay... are you sure? When I had a ~6.5 mile one-way commute last year, I could do it in about 19-20 minutes on my road bike, if I was booking it. Winter would send it up to about 22 minutes on the same bike.

And it does take me a bit longer to get dressed in the winter, but I dress for commuting by bike in the same way I dress for going out in the cold on foot, so it's nothing special. Of course, my commute is <2.5 miles one-way now, and I live in Nashville now (last year, Western MA), so that may not be very representative.

tjspiel

I'm guessing he meant 15 minutes longer.

I have a 6 mile commute and I don't think I've ever done it faster than 22 or 23 minutes. More typical would be middle to upper 20's. It took me nearly 40 minutes one morning last week after a fresh snow. So taking 15 minutes longer is very possible. I'd say with good to average roads I'm between 5 and 10 minutes slower during the winter.

The roads near my house are a mix of bare pavement, hard pack, trafficked snow, and icy spots. They're very uneven and bumpy in places. Most likely they'll stay that way until we have a good thaw which could be either weeks or months away It's hard to maintain a quick pace when it's like that so I'm resigned to that fact that my commutes are going to take a good 10 minutes longer than they would in the summer.

brumskee

Takes about 1 minute to put it on. Usually takes about 20 min to find where the wife put it this time. does not matter that I put my cycling gear in the CORRECT place, it must be washed and hid after every ride.