"Winter time is a-comin' in...."
 

I dug out the long johns, fleeces and soft shells the other day. As happens every autumn, I couldn't locate my cool weather gloves--the ones I wear in temperatures from 30 degrees to 60 degrees. I don't know why they disappear every year. And I don't know why all the stores refuse to start selling gloves until late November--about six weeks after I want to start wearing them.

Anyway, I started thinking that it's time for our annual cold weather survival thread. Don't let the weather keep you off your bike! In some ways, winter is the BEST time to ride. But there's a learning curve involved. To enjoy winter riding, you need to know something about it.

And that's the purpose of this thread. Please pass along any tips and recommendations you have on winter riding. And be sure to ask questions if you have any. Everybody was a noob at one time, and there's no shame in it. If you have questions this year, then next year you will be the one with the answers!

Suggested topics: Winter gear, bike modifications, clothing, riding techniques, pep talks--

anything and every thing related to cold, snow, ice, and everyday cycling!

What is this...snow and ice...youspeak of?

God, I love Southern California!

I actually cannot wait for snow to fall and temperature to cool down a lot !!! :D

It's that white color that you can see on the mountain tops, if the smog isn't too bad.

I'm pretty good on everything except gloves. Still haven't got them nailed. My hands run very cold and I haven't found any combination of layers that is remotely good.

I used to have warm mitts that took care of the cold problem easily, the only drawback was you couldn't shift and brake at the same time.

Bring it on! :thumb:
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photo...59241_2143.jpg

Ah yeah ! :winter2: :D

Ahh, it's that pretty white paint God uses to make the upper landscape pretty sometimes. I get it.

Actually, I don't know how long it's been since you've ben in Socal, but these days, since the late 90's or so, the mountains are visible from Long Beach every day...it's nice!

A friend was complaining of the weather in San Diego today (Santa Ana winds). In January she'll be crying that it's too cold--even though her low temperature for the day will probably be somewhere between 20 to 70 degrees warmer than my high temperature.

Indeed. It's really just because our bodies adapt to the surrounding environment. When I went to Africa, I couldn't do anything during the day because 110F in the shade was killing me. Being used to the cold Canadian Rockies didn't help. :lol:

Whenever I get tempted to complain about the weather here, I think of my poor (teehee) ex-wife stuck in Ma. It makes me smile every time, and it works winter or summer!

I don't what you've tried, but it shouldn't be hard to find good gloves for your relatively mild winters in Arkansas. There are different brands of lightweight gloves that are made out of Polarfleece of a similar fleece. If they contain a product called Thinsulate, they will be warm, light, and possibly cheap.

If these thinner gloves don't do it for you, try gloves for hiking or skiing. Stores like Sears and Kmart sell a good variety of warm gloves for around $15 ti $30.

Yep, I've got great ski gloves, Thinsulate gloves, leather gloves, garden gloves.
I've tried them all, even neoprene gloves like they use for wetsuits. My problem is that there is no heat in my hands to retain.

I'd layer them, but I have big hands anyway and so I can't find a series of progressively larger sizes to layer with.

You need to go hardcore. Try snowmobile gloves.

Also, what about mittens? They keep all the fingers together, sharing what little heat they produce.

Finally you might want to google battery gloves or heated gloves.

And have you looked for glove liners? That's what you use for layering gloves and under mittens. Personally, my hands stay pretty warm so I use glove liners as gloves hemselves.

But if these mitts from Cabela's don't keep your hands warm, i don't think anything will. They might look kind of funny being worn down in Arkansas. But hey, as long as your hands are cozy, who cares how you look?



http://images.cabelas.com/is/image/c...IzJINfNf3-E-XH

Just wear a sweater or other layer. Often the cold you feel in your hands or feet is due to lack of insulation in an adjacent layer.

Dude... are you cycling in your slippers?

I was going to suggest this - the body keeps itself warm from the core out. So if your torso is cold, blood flow is reduced to the extremities (hands and feet) to try and keep the temperature around your internal organs up. Also try wearing a hat as the brain needs to be kept warm first too.

I'm wearing plastic shopping bags over my sneakers; that way my feet stay warm and dry while still fitting on the pedals, and they're free! :D

Fantastic--you just gave me another way to look even more dorky. ;)

Meh, it's comfortable and it works. If I wanted to look cool, I could just buy an Audi and drive that in the winter, but what's the fun in that? :)

:thumb:

Back when I wore a helmet, my son said, "In this neighborhood, if you wear that helmet, you're really gonna need the helmet--because everybody will want to hit you upside the head for being a dork!"

:D

(I wore the helmet anyway. I got some looks, but nobody tried to hit me upside the head.)

:lol:

The key to gloves I think is that they need to be windproof on the back of your hands. No amount of insulation is going to help when you are going 20 mph and the icy wind is cutting straight through. I wear Outdoor Research Windstopper gloves which are kinda expensive for what they are. I am sure other companies make something similar though. It's got a softshell palm and front and some kind of windproof material on the back.

Deerskin work gloves are also really nice for stopping the wind. I picked up a pair for $10. They are yellow though.

These split mittens are my favorite cold weather riding gloves. They give the warmth benefits of mittens with the grip/brake/shift benefits of gloves. They are made for xc skiing I believe but I love em for riding. Live long and prosper


http://www.rei.com/product/802392/sw...:referralID=NA