reminds me of an episode in a Dunkin’s restroom w the hand dryer at my halfway point after 3 hrs riding in the cold. I was desperate. First time I may have used the chem warmers to get me back home. Ride home was only 1.5 hrs cuz I pumped up the tires and rode on the road that was plowed. Going the first half I was under inflated and rode thru the fresh snow 13 miles, on sidewalks & grass. Anyway the ride home was much better

Winter is pretty harsh where I'm at. I'm located in SW Michigan and we already have had some snowy days hit us.

I didn't even know winter biking was a thing, I'm definitely going to do some more research on it!

I opted for a different kind of chemical toe warmer. I ditched the individual 7.4V battery packs for each boot and run both off a single higher voltage battery now. The controller with the "In Out" on it is the one I'm using for my boots, and the one above it is for my gloves. I mount it to the inside of my jacket with velcro and connect it to a USB-C battery with the cable on the right with a red end. Inside that red heat shrink is a little board with a USB-C connector that tells the battery to give it 9V instead of 5V. The controller didn't need 2 outputs as I ended up making a long Y cable to go to the bottom of my tights, then added cable guides inside the tights and a hole just above the top of my boots. With that change both my gloves and boots use the same kind of battery, so in a pinch I can switch them, plus I have a spare battery that can be used for either.

Its been unusually warm so far, so I've only used my boot heaters twice this year. I haven't even been bringing the battery with me lately.

[MENTION=134410]rumrunn6[/MENTION], how do you know when to use the warmers in your shoes?

might seem obvious & I can write something snarky, like when it gets cold. but it's a great question. let me think

this year I was reminded because I was out riding for about 1 1/2 hrs & when I got back to my car my toes were cold. I already put my barmitts on. a cpl hrs at 25 degrees means either wear my best winter cycling gloves or use barmitts. I carried 2 pair of gloves just in case I made the wrong choice. started w/ the good gloves & it was more than I needed but didn't switch. the next day was 35 degrees, started w/ thinner gloves but brought my better gloves in my trunk. finished the ride w/o switching

so as it's getting colder I'm gradually introducing my cold weather gear & doing a little trial & error

so now, if I go for another ride at 25 degrees I'll try the toe warmers. I know when it's super cold, like 17 degrees, I prefer the hand warmers taped to my socks/toes. especially if precipitation is happening


but we're not there yet

sorry, short answer, trial & error, I guess

[MENTION=134410]rumrunn6[/MENTION], that's a perfect response, not snarky. It's hard to remember which clothes suit which conditions. I learned a trick here on BF. A guy said he kept a spreadsheet, so I do the same. I don't write in it often. I write the conditions and temperature, what I wore, and how well it worked out. It helps a little.

Thanks.

I've seen those. I'm impressed! I'm not that organized. for me I think much of it comes down to finding stuff & doing laundry. meaning when I want to go for a ride, what can I find to wear? & if I've ridden recently, there's usually some folded laundry from my last ride, which I never put away. so I just grab it again. if it's a little warmer or colder than my last ride, I leave something off or scrounge around until I can find a little something extra

Thread Drift: Your quote reminded me of one of my favorite cycling experiences ever. January 1993, I'm living in Boston MA, it starts snowing -- heavily -- one night, and my best friend who lives less than two miles away says "Come on over, we're having a party." So I don my winter jacket and grab my Peugeot rigid MTB, and I start riding the <2 miles to his place.

Did I mention it was snowing heavily?

In the time it took me to get from my front door, where the snow was already about 6" deep, to the first traffic light a quarter mile away, the accumulation had doubled. Seriously.

And as I continued pedalling in this ever-deepening white fluff I was admittedly shocked at how quickly it continued to accumulate. I swear to god there was 16-18" inches of snow on the ground when I finally arrived at my buddy's place ~20 minutes later.

Anyhow, the part that your quote reminded me of was: On three separate occasions during this short frigid commute, a driver in a car pulled up next to me, rolled down the passenger-side window, and shouted "YOU'RE CRAZY!!!"
Three different drivers.

Ah, memories...

[MENTION=53807]Bob Ross[/MENTION], that happened to me twice.

I took an epic walkabout at the age of 20. I left college, my job, my apartment and took my bike to Europe to wander with no itinerary. I started in September. In early December in the south of England, it snowed where it rarely snows. The region was stranded. I decided to go back home to the US. I was in Stratford Upon Avon, Shakespeare's town. I waited a day for things to stabilize. The next day, I rode to Oxford. It was still cold, and there were snow banks on the roadsides. I rode 50 without stopping, and my cold feet were killing me. I double my wool socks which made my shoes too tight and didn't make me warmer. I took the train to London and then had to cross the city on my bike loaded with panniers etc. The streets had not been plowed, and traffic was snarled, and I slipped and slid with my laden bike. A man in a "lorry" ducked his head down to say, "You're mad, you know." Imagine this in a heavy London accent. If I had lifted my head to him, I would have fallen, so I just yelled, "I know."

More recently, NYC had a snowfall so big that the mayor declared an emergency and said no one may drive. Everyone took off from work, so I decided to try my bike with my brand new studded tires. They didn't help at all, because they're ice tires, not snow tires. When I put my foot down on the pedal, I fell over on my side. It didn't hurt because the snow was a big cushion. A man standing outside his workplace smoking a cigarette watched me try foolishly. He didn't speak English, but he had to say something. He yelled, "Bike!" Imagine this in a Chinese accent.

“Yes, but” for me…

This time of year I ride 100% of the opportunities I have. If the weather is good (safe roads for non-studded 2.2” tires) I ride. I can end up riding 4-5 days in a row. I don’t do that April-October because so many opportunities to get out so I can be picky. In the winter, if the mixed surface trails in town are free of snow and not muddy, I ride them (3x past week, because once snow accumulates that’s over for a while). If it snows, I’m indoors until the roads are safe. I’m good down to “feels like” -10C with all the layers I own, toe warmers, etc. I actually love this time of year for riding. Every ride fees like I won the lottery

I don’t mind riding in the winter. Coldest it usually gets here is 15 degrees American, but most of the time it’s low 30s. Now that I finally have all my winter kit as well as a kit plan, riding in the cold is alot smoother than it has in the past.

The only thing that still bothers me is my toes. I’ve yet to give chemical warmers a go, mainly because those are only good for one ride. I would like a solution that doesn’t require me to keep buying something. I’m thinking next year I will get some thermal lined road shoes for the winter.

This winter I'm getting used to riding in the cold. Acclimating; making sure I get out in each decline in temperature. Riding in the 50s was cold at first, then the 40s, and yesterday it was 34 degrees when I started. Sunny and not too windy, perfect for breaking me into winter.

Last year a bunch of things were going on and I didn't get out during the transition months, so once real winter arrived, it was too brutal and I didn't ride at all (outside).

Yesterday's ride:

I'm planning to ride tomorrow morning and it's looking like the coldest ride for me so far, -5C feels like -11C. I could wait until noon and ride at lunch, but first thing in the morning before traffic is so peaceful. And it's Friday before the holiday's, will be pretty quiet at 7am. I'll be using my warmest layers plus chemical toe warmers. Can't wait (seriously)!

This year is not as bad as it was last year, and it is yet to snow in most parts where I am. Last year, we had a snow storm and my car needed a jump start at around Christmas. Looking at the weather forecast, it is not going to snow at least until New Year. Today, it was a sunny day, and I rode my bike with a light winter jacket. From the Midwest US here, by the way.

I could only imagine the folks in Texas and California having a great time bike-riding now.

Got out in the mid 30s yesterday for a 2 hour ride yesterday. Almost no wind to speak of, so quite nice.