If I only ride when it was 65F or warmer I'd never get anywhere...

Just held our annual winter cycling course last night and over the years the number of winter cyclists has grown from a small number of lunatics to a rather repectable group that is rather diverse, the number of women who ride through our winter is rather impressive.

My wife is still acclimating to our northern climate and has some health conditions that make keeping her extremities warm more of a challenge... it was 40F when we set off last night and around 30F on the ride home and we were fine as the roads are fairly clear with some icy patches and we have studded tyres.

-40 will be a different matter and expect that her cutoff will be a little higher than mine.

I tend to overdress. The first mile or so you should be cold. Before your body gets warmed up.
For clothes I've found that a wicking layer under blue jeans and a Carhart-style shell works best. Thin merino wool sweater in between. Ski mask and lined leather gloves for head and hands. Loosely laced insulated hiking boots on my feet.
I'll be putting on the studded tires any day now. Don't want to fall and break a bone.
I love winter riding.
Nose-blowing is the biggest pita.

A few people had concerns about not being able to keep their hands warm... I wear wooo flip mitts with an inner wool glove and these will keep my hands toasty at all but the coldest of temperatures.

For some pogeys seem to be the best solution.

Like anything else, you get used to riding in colder temperatures. If you are a daily rider and the temps drop gradually, it's pretty easy.

It seems to me that it is all in what you are used to. Earlier this week the temp for my morning 12 mile commute was 20F. A bit cool for mid November but certainly not unexpected. Now that I've had a couple of those days this season, the rides in the 30's are just fine. Also I have invested heavily in the proper clothing, shoes, gloves etc to make the rides very doable. For me, once I figured out the toes and fingers protection, everything else fell into place and I am always quite comfy. That being said I do have a limit and that is 10F and under.

I live in Wisconsin, born and raised in Ontario so I have always like winter and being outside as much as possible. In Wisconsin, we do snow removal very, very well. Roads are typically cleared and dry within 24 hours of a snow event so I never worry about icing and that sort of thing. When it snows, I take the car knowing that its just one day off the bike. No big deal.

I have been able to ride every month of the year since I started riding 2 years ago. I will admit that I prefer to get out when it's above 50° but I'll ride in the mid 30's if I start to feel the cabin fever; it has to be dry, though. Last winter, my hands were complaining, especially my ring and little fingers. To address that, I bought a pair of lobster claw gloves at REI that I can't wait to try out. My elbows get stiff, but not too painful and they seem to respond well to Advil. I'm kinda looking forward to New Year's Day for the annual Icicle Bicycle Ride around the city of Pittsburgh that is sponsored by the Pittsburgh Wheelmen. Hah! It's only a month and a half away now!

The cold was the main reason my wife and I sold our house in Maine after living there for over 60 years (in Maine not the house) and moved to FL. NO SNOW! Back in Maine the bikes and yaks would be packed away and the snow shoes, skis and snow shovels would come out. Now the bikes and yaks CAN be used all year. We did find out the the cold is all relative however. The first year here everyone around here knew we were not natives… wearing shorts and short sleeves all winter and riding in all sorts of weather. The next year we were a little more selective on riding due to temperature. Now we are both wusses don't even like to leave the house when the temps are less than 60. I guess it's time to sell and move to Mexico

I'm with several of you. I hate the cold and I live in Iowa. I've commuted this year at 25 degrees, though. I got mad at myself for not riding this morning at 21 degrees so I set a new goal of riding in 10 degree weather. Truthfully, I hate anything below 50!! I love 100!

+=1. What may stop me in my push to go as far as I can in the cold is that I rider limestone and gravel prairie path and when it gets this cold and wet, it is like either riding through wet concrete or trails trashed by bicycles and horses going through the wet trails. It was tough today, even though it was 40F, because it was so soggy.

Thanks for all the information. What I am now doing is using an indoor trainer for a minimum of one hour per day. I would really rather be out on the road, but the pain in my joints just isn't worth it. Probably around the end of March, maybe a bit sooner, the temps will be consistently above 65 and I can get out again. I know it sounds wimpy to y'all up in the Great Frozen North, but 65 degrees with the wind chill at fifteen to twenty mph factored in is just no fun.

Temps won't stop me from riding until we get well below zero F (<-20C) but bad roads and high winds will. I'm starting to feel the cold more in my hands, feet and knees than I used to. One thing that has worked well for me is a paraffin spa which heats a special wax blend to an extremely warm, just short of uncomfortably hot, temp where it liquifies. You just dip your clean hands in and then lift them out allowing the wax layer to solidify. You dip your hands several times just like making a candle, until you have a fairly thick layer. Leave the wax on as long as you like, I usually like 15-20 minutes, then it just peels off in big chunks that you can put back in the spa for reuse. My hands come out very warm, soft, and red. More importantly, they come out pain free and with increased dexterity. The effect lasts for several hours. From my experience it appears to increase circulation and decrease inflammation substantially, though temporarily. This isn't a fast and convenient fix, but if it turns your 15 minute painful ride into a two hour reasonably comfortable one, it might be worth it. An added bonus is that the wax blend deeply moisturizes the skin eliminating the cracking that comes with cold, dry weather. Some was spas are even big enough to do feet.

Some kind of embrocation may also help. I've used a combination of generic Ben Gay and a generic capsaicin cream on my knees sometimes.

When picking your gloves make sure they are not only warm, but also windproof and fairly loose. I knew a hunter who was out in unusually cold conditions and complained that even though he had good insulated boots and two pair of heavy wool socks, his feet would get cold. I asked him how his boots fit with only one pair of socks. Turned out that his boots fit perfectly with a pair of regular hiking socks, slightly snug with heavy wool socks and very snuggly with two pair of wool socks. He tried wearing them with a single lighter pair of wool socks and his feet were actually warmer. This is one reason I don't like compression base layers. I prefer my base layers close fitting but not at all tight.

If you use those chemical hand warmers, be aware that they need oxygen to generate heat. If you put them inside of windproof gloves or boots, the chemical reaction will eventually slow or stop. The good news is that you can take them out, give them a good shake and leave them in fresh air for 30-60 seconds and they will warm right back up and are good to go for another 30 minutes or so. You can repeat this until the chemicals are expended. You can also use this to your advantage if you do multiple shorter rides with packs rated for 8-12 hours. When your ride is over, put the packs into a Ziploc bag and squeeze as much air as possible out before sealing it. This will shut down the reaction. When you reopen the bag, give the warmers a shake and they will warm right back up, even days later. I've been able to use the same hand warmers on three consecutive days using this technique.

We all get older and I don't handle cold as well as I used too... the cold aggravates my lower back issues.

My youngest just decided that she wanted to ride more into the winter... she was checking out the studded tyres on the folder here and then and we went for a 5-6 mile ride in what started out as 36F weather and then dropped down to freezing by the time we were coming home.

She usually freezes but complained of being too warm.

there's no bad weather for cycling ... only bad clothing!

I've had good luck with leather gloves with fleece linings. Get them so they fit loosely. This way they go on and off easily and they don't restrict circulation. You can even make a fist and bunch up your fingers in the palm area if you need to warm your frozen fingers.

Wool for colder riding . . .

It's the face! The cold air hitting your face/breathing it in are the problems, and your feet/hands second. I wear a balaclava but it doesn't seem to be enough after 20 minutes.

I plan to get my wife some mittens of this type... it can be too cold here for gloves for a lot of people.

She was pretty happy with wool / thinsulate gloves in insulated shell gloves tonight when we went for our nightly stroll on the squeaky snow but it can and will get colder than this.

My coworkers look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I sometimes get too warm riding into work. It's not been that cold yet. Just around freezing in the mornings. I'll take cool/cold over hot any day.

Tell them you know some lunatics north of the 49th who ride at forty below and also complain of being too warm.

i have both types of arthritis, RA & osteo. i also have problems in my hands, hips and spine to name a few areas affected by arthritis. i ride all year around here in texas even during the winter except if it is below 40 degree's and a strong north wind. i always wear a base layer, thermal tights, a thermal jacket, a balaclava, type head cover which covers the neck, wool gloves with lobster mitts over them as well as a thermal type head cover, wool socks and booties. Too be honest for me it dosen't help that much as i don't tolerate any temperature below 60 degree's. I make my rides short 20-25 miles and basically spin. With the arthritis it pretty much sucks with the cold temps, however i would rather try to ride outside as i hate trainers. if i can't ride i do light weigh lifting

Mittens better than gloves... and Put on a warm hat.


cold and wet and dark and the town quiets right down,

particularly the weekends , the Harley Motorbikes stay in the Garage at home.

The temp discouraged me today. It was -35F and I headed out on my fat bike but I simply did not have the protection I needed on my forehead/sinuses. At -20F I can push through the pain until my face is numb but at -35F today it was just too painful. Just getting soft but at 62 I guess it's just how it is.

I know this thread is a couple months old, but I've now managed to ride in 15 degrees!!! For me, it's my feet I have issues with. I can get the rest of me actually warm enough to be sweating. I used my mountain bike and then layers of wool and cotton socks and my insulated hiking boots. That worked better than anything else I've tried. I rode the trail with 2" of snow on it and then some gravel roads. It was cool figuring out what animals made the tracks in the snow!

Not really. It hit -5F last week and it was unpleasant just walking to the car. I would never ride in it.

Same here. My feet get uncomfortably cold after an hour. I use chemical warmers in my boots if it's below freezing. The rest of my body stays warm if I'm pedaling.