gecho

I was psyched for a 30km ride in the cold this morning. Yesterday the snow was perfect for studded tires. Get ready and go outside to find we got 5 more cm of light snow. Bike damn near uncontrollable on the new snow, so I had to turn back .

So I went to buy some boots instead since I'll probalby have to take the bus again tomorrow. Even walking on this new snow is a bit of challenge, its essentially a lubricant for the packed snow underneath.

Fizzaly

1/2" or so of snow over a mix of wet and frozen slush about 28f, wore just my work uniform(cotton blend) under my rain shell with a gore tex vest, some syn. wool socks, finally had to put the baclava on my freshly shaven face has not been liking the chilly air, and then just my helmet liner and still just my adidas clima-warm gloves. Halfway to work had to remove the vest and cuff my pant legs some i started to over head, my rain pants are not breathable what so ever they are more or less my snow pants anymore and i started sweating, rest of way into work nice and comfy.

ItsJustAHill

Morning ride: low 40s, intermittent rain showers:
fleece bib shorts
polypro long-sleeve base
long-sleeve jersey
Showers Pass jacket
wool gloves
Sugoi beanie
wool socks
Shimano Gore-Tex shoes

Ended up somewhat chilly for most of the ride, mainly arms & feet. For the afternoon ride, switched to a wool base layer. Better, but feet were still chilly, especially after sunset.

Fizzaly

31f 1.5" to 2" wet snow, Upper body:merino/poly base goretex vest under rain/wind shell, lower: shorts w/legwarmers under rain pants, 2mm neoprene socks, head: helmet liner w/beanie. Got really hot again i keep overdressing had to remove vest and helmet liner to keep from sweating. The merino/ poly base layer shirt is new, i decided to try wearing wool again and so far i haven't broken out in hives And its soooo toasty warm. spent most my morning at work shoveling wearing just the shorts and wool under vest and was plenty warm.

Fizzaly

7f Went with the whole body poly/merino base layer today goretex vest rain/wind shell, baclava neoprene head sock and beanie, bottom: neoprene socks with poly thermal socks over, cotton work pants under rain/wind pants. Merino glove liners under 60 gram winter wind gloves.
Stayed nice and toasty with only my nose getting a little cold i was riding too hard to pull the baclava up over it.

noglider 

Yesterday it was about 50ºF. I wore cotton long pants, and that was the only cotton I wore. I had a merino wool long sleeve polo shirt on, and I wore cycling shorts under my pants. Wool socks and Shimano shoes that look like hiking boots but have SPD cleats on them. A single layer of merino wool is comfortable in a huge range of temperatures. I got warm and had to roll up my sleeves. But when I get warm in merino, I very rarely get annoyingly hot.

Total miles: about 22.

Tom

noglider 

Sixty Fiver, do you have a link for your hand wear? I still haven't found gloves or mittens that keep my hands truly warm. And it rarely gets below 20ºF (-7ºC) here. But it's damp and windy here, and wind chill gets to about -5ºF (-20ºC).

gecho

-13C for the ride in and -7C for the ride home, no wind. 15.5km each way.

Head: Balaclava (Gordini Lavawool Convertible on way in, stretchy one on way home), Helmet, Ski Goggles.
Upper Body: Long sleeve poly baselayer, Canonndale Heavy Weight Jersey
Lower Body: Liner shorts, thermal underwear, wind pants
Feet: Lake MXZ302 boots, thin poly pro socks
Hands: Mits on the way in, thinsulate lined wool gloves on the way back

I'm amazed how little I need to wear on my upper body to stay warm. My Gordini balaclava has mesh at the mouth, great for airflow but my lips freeze, going to need to modify it. My mits are extra large with removable liners, so I can fit them over my regular winter gloves for wind protection.

My feet started getting cold in the morning, but I think that may have been a result me tensing up due to the road conditions, and having to stop many times for eyeglass defrosting. The mit liners are pretty thin and I had to switch over to my wool gloves part way through the morning ride. I couldn't get into a good rhythm this morning having to stop for a variety of obstacles. The cycling computer listed the trip time at 1 hour, adding up all the stops I was probably outside for about 1:10.

The afternoon was better despite the deteriorating road conditions and several unexpected dead-ends.

ItsJustAHill

Yesterday: low 40s at ride start, high 40s by the end (38 miles).

Craft short-sleeve base
Long-sleeve jersey
Assos Element One jacket
Assos Element Zero vest
Fleece bib tights
wool socks
Shimano Gore-Tex shoes
Assos Early Winter gloves
Fleece beanie

Chilly arms for most of the ride, otherwise OK.

noglider 

Today: 40's (F) and extremely windy. Low humidity.

I wore wool socks (as always), Shimano shoes, corduroy pants, a cotton t-shirt, a thin merino wool overshirt, a suede jacket, a scarf, and a synthetic hat under my helmet. I also wore summer cycling gloves with ski gloves over them. I was basically comfortable.

Fizzaly

8f
Merino/poly base including socks, goretex vest and windbreaker, baclava and beanie and broke out the heavy bulky winter gloves finally. I think this year i might have to break down and get some goggles my eyes were watering most the ride this morning and the clear lense sunglasses fog up too easily with the baclava.

noglider 

I use carpenters' goggles I get at Home Despot or equivalent. They cost about $6-8. Can't beat them, but you can scratch them.

Tom

Fizzaly

I was thinking about just picking up a used ones from CL i figure i payed 60 bucks for my sunglasses so 20-30 for goggles isn't bad

cyclokitty 

I worked from home today and went out on my bike on an errand at about 5:30pm. It was-1 Celsius with the wind chill and humid from the rainfall earlier that day. I wore:

HEAD
- ski helmet
- clear ski goggles
- neoprene face mask and I needed it!

TORSO
- cotton short sleeve tshirt
- insulated rain jacket

LEGS
- bike shorts
- powershield tights
- MTN bike shorts

FEET
- wool socks
- goretex lined hiking shoes

HANDS
- waterproof ski gloves

This felt like the coldest day since last winter ended. So far no snow and the weather reports are saying flurries mixed with rain. I'm hoping more rain because now I kinda like rain cycling. I don't even like snow outside when tucked under a comforter in bed inside, I doubt cycling thru snow will change my mind.

bijan

Wow. I hate rain, a lot... And we got more than the average from June through until now. I'm looking forward to when temperatures are safely below freezing and rain is no longer a threat

gecho

-20C today, I took the Touring bike out for a 17.5km ride. So much faster than the mountain bike. I've put off buying a proper outer shell as long as I can. I just need something to block the wind and be breathable, being water repellant is completely unnecessary in these temperatures.

The respirator / goggle combo I tried this week is working great. There can be a bit of fogging when slowing to a crawl, but no problems at cruising speed.

My toes getting cold are the only remaining problem area. Before I ordered my Lake cycling boots I tried on numerous pairs of regular boots locally. I normally wear an 8.5 shoe, all the size 10 boots I tried on had plenty of room even with a heavy sock, so I ordered a size 44 Lake. The Lakes have no where near as much room in them as any of the size 10 boots I tried. Definitely not enough room for a heavy sock without being too tight.

I'll be switching to platform pedals and wear my heavy winter boots.

Head:
Stretch open face balaclava, neck gaiter, half-mask respirator, helmet, Smith OTG Goggles

Hands:
Stretch polypro glove liners, wool gloves, (added nylon mitt shell on way back)

Body:
long sleeve poly base, loose poly pro shirt, heavy weight jersey, (added nylon shell during return leg of trip)

Legs:
cycling shorts, thermal long underwear, wind shell

Feet:
polypro socks, Lake MXZ 302 winter cycling boots.

djb

well gech, you're pretty hard ass, I gotta hand it to you, I'd heard it has been pretty darn frigid out in your neck of hte woods.
Yes, I know I cross country ski at those temps, but its funny but I dont have an urge to bike in it. I guess you have to watch the hands a bit more than with skiing as they arent moving like with XC, so they might be colder.
Last year in Montreal we had so little snow it was ridiculus, Ihope we have more this time.

BJAN, Im with you with hating the rain!

gecho

Last week wasn't too bad temperature wise, this morning was definintely the coldest its been since the cold snap a few weeks.

My experince so far, the worst part of winter biking is getting geared up. Its time consuming and I can start getting too warm before I finish putting everything on. At home I can just go into the garage and cool down as I continue getting dressed.

At school its more of a problem as the bike cage is in the underground heated parking. With all the snow melting off cars its quite humid down there too. I usually stuff my gloves, goggles, respirator and outer upper body layers in a pannier and put them on after I get outside.

Another problem is that my gear doesn't dry much sitting in a locker while I'm at school. Even worse now that I rented a locker, as the rental half-lockers are half the depth of the coin half-lockers. The balaclava I usually dry by pressing paper towels against it. Stuffing paper towels in boots absorbs some moisture. I'll usually wear my heavy weight jersey around during the day, my body heat dries it in about 30 minutes. When getting ready to leave, my body heat usually dries my base layer shirt before I get to my bike. If my gloves get wet on the way in there is usually no getting them dry before going home, I need to start taking a second pair.

I was at the LBS yesterday and saw a product called Dryzone, which is a heavy reusable dessicant product for drying boots. I'll have to check out some reviews to see if it might be worth trying. The package said you can dry out the dessicant by microwaving it, or by placing it over a radiator.

djb

its probably silica gel....you know the stuff that comes in little packages in camera boxes and most everything--it always has DO NOT EAT written all over it.
It absorbs moisture, but when heated it dries out and can be used again....not really sure how well it would work....guess it depends on how much it is, dont think as a student I would buy it...but hey.

ps, love the "buts its a dry cold"

safe riding this school year

Fizzaly

Im back in shorts here in boise. 33f basic cotten base shorts w/leg warmers. Full rain shell and neoprene head sock neoprene socks a beanie and glasses. And to think last week i was wearing the merino base layers. Boise doesnt do humid very often and im not used to it, 98% humidity this morning and i feel wet. Its weird how your body gets used to certin cond.

ItsJustAHill

Low 60s at the start of yesterday's ride, but that quickly turned into 50s and raining, with a 5-10 mph wind.

Craft mesh sleeveless base
Long-sleeved jersey
Castelli bib tights
Wool socks
Shimano Gore-Tex shoes
Sugoi thermal beanie
Assos Early Winter gloves

The Castelli tights are the new Nanoflex material that supposed to be waterproof. Still ended up soggy in the seat, possibly from water coming in through the seams off my wet saddle (the bike was parked in the rain during a break). Now I'm looking at saddle covers.

gecho

-21C with a 10km/h headwind in the morning and -16C with a 10km/h tailwind in the afternoon.

I wore a beannie, neck gaiter, respirator, goggles along with my helmet on my head. Cycling liner shorts, thermal underwear and wind shell on my legs. Long sleeve poly shirt, heavy weight jersey and new wind shell on my upper body. Poly liners, wool gloves and nylon mitt shell on my hands. And poly wool socks with -25C rated boots for my feet.

Switching from the balaclava to beannie worked well for the most part, but my neck felt colder at the start. The front of my upper legs started getting numbingly cold in the morning. I think that was because my thermal underwear and wind shell were stretched tight in that area from pedalling. My toes still got cold, so I'll probalby get some thicker socks. I'm pretty sure pedalling is reducing circulation in my feet, trying to keep my feet further forward on the pedals might help.

My upper body is still sweating quite a bit, I'll have to try slowing down. Part of the problem is not wanting the trip to take so long that my feet get really cold. I'm going to try out wool as my second layer so see if increased breathability helps.

bijan

-4C/24F and snowing.

Head: tuque, and taped up helmet
upper body: light sweater, generic polyester jacket
legs: jeans
hands: heavy mittens
feet: sock liner, wool socks, light boots

It was my first time wearing the sock liners. They felt pretty warm, though I don't really know how much warmer since my commute is short and my toes don't start to get really cold until 2 hours in at just below freezing. The main advantage is that I can just take off the wool socks at work and wear the sock liners as regular socks.

The only problem was the last minute or so of my ride home was against a 30 to 45km/h headwind that was blowing tiny ice particles in my eyes, which hurt even though I was wearing glasses. Goggles would have been useful...

djb

I tell ya, you guys are hardasses!

bijan--I never did a final reply to your Mtl-Ottawa thread, thanks for all the details, I find that totally cool how you can plot your route on a googlemap thingee. Very neat and its a great resource for others to get a real detailed idea of a route.
Perhaps in the spring sometime we could meet up for a tea or coffee somewhere if I do a long ride out to your neck of the woods in the west island.

cheers and safe riding with the ice and les twits en char.

bijan

Hey djb. It would definitely be cool to meet up. It seems weird that even with popular activities and with big cities how little cross over there is from the internet into the real world.

Hopefully I'll survive the ice and snow relatively unharmed

Google maps really is amazing. There are some personal websites with interesting routes (Michel Gagnon from Montreal has an excellent Montreal-Ottawa and Montreal-Quebec City page and there's another person who has a Toronto-Montreal one), but they were created before the really good online maps (or before they become so interactive).