mike

It was -4 F (-20 C) the past couple of days.

The steering on my car went out, so I have to bicycle whether I want to or not, so I am bicycling.

I've been bicycling year round for years, but it takes below zero to really make you wonder if it is worth it. Man, talk about brain freeze. That gap on my forhead between my face mask and my goggles just shreaked with pain. Next time, I will for sure remember to get all of the face mask under the goggles.

Portis

When you get around 0 degrees F, the amount of exposed skin needs to equal zero.

2manybikes

I have a lot more trouble with the car than the bike below zero.

The funniest one is that the gas filled shocks that hold the tailgate over your head let it fall down on you. As soon as it is warm enough it works fine again so of course one forgets by the next winter. Thud..

I never get hurt by the bike in the winter, maybe someone is trying to tell me something?

Machka 

Headbands are the way to go to prevent that brain freeze!

And ... why goggles? I ride at those temps with just my regular glasses ... what benefit do goggles have?

mike

Machka, when the temps are below zero F and it gets windy, just about any exposed skin gets frostbite - on me at least. So, I use goggles to protect my face.

You are from Canada. I think you know what I mean. When that dry freezing cold wind hits you, OUCH! You can't even call the feeling "cold", it is simply painful.

silversmith

It was -2F here last night and I bundled up too well for my commute into town for 2nd shift. I had my goggles on but had to lift them because of breath-frost and excess body heat. [[[note to self -- make a custom snorkle-like device to direct my breath back from my glasses]]]

It was cold, but not unbearable (I wear glasses, too) without the goggles. I did have to reduce my speed a bit. But that had more to do with not wanting to heat up.

Ritehsedad

I can't get my bike to start when its below zero.

Roody

Try jumper cables. That'll get you going.

DataJunkie

Where do you attach them? wait....nevermind. bad question

Thomill

I gave goggles a try this year for the first time. I had an old pair of Oakley's I picked up while skiing a few years back. While I do prefer my glasses generally, the goggles fit perfectly with a balaclava making a good seal around the eyes and nose. Best combo I have found to keep the head warm. If needed, I add a hat - nothing fancy - just an old wool cap - on top which has the bonus of keeping the goggle strap in place.

T

Machka 

Yes I'm from Canada, and I've ridden in temps down to -40C/F ... that's why I'm a little puzzled about what you're experiencing. It's not normal.

About frostbite:
Your skin may feel cold, but you shouldn't get frostbite until the temps get quite a bit colder than that!

See the chart:
https://www.msc.ec.gc.ca/education/wi...ze_table_e.cfm

According to it, you would have to be down to -35C/-31F with a light wind before you're even starting to get into a dangerous area.


As I mentioned though, I do wear a knit headband over my ears and low over my forehead to protect my sinuses because they will feel the cold of what I breath and what hits them. Then I wear my balaclava overtop of that to keep the warmth in. Then I wear a helmet cover as an additional measure to trap heat. The balaclava goes around my face and covers my neck and chin, but that's it. My mouth, nose, and cheeks are out and exposed to the air. If it goes down to about 0F, I will add a neck gaiter as additional protection around my neck (because I hate the feeling of cool air blowing down my jersey). I can pull it up over my mouth when I'm climbing and inhaling a lot of cold air quickly, or when I'm decending and there's a lot of wind. But my nose and cheeks are still exposed as they should be.

I've been outside for 15 hours in -30C temps and have been just fine.

iceratt

Yeah, but if we saw a real picture of you, we'd discover that you're a polar bear!

For me, a mere mortal, I find that balaclava and hood provide some buffeting of the wind, whle my breath warms my face. I rode quite comfortably this way, when it was -6F, a few nights ago.

silversmith

It was 0F here last night on my way home. On the -2F night before I had worn goggles and had no exposed skin. Like I said, I was too warm and experience a great deal of fogging from by breath blowing up in my balaclava and out around my eyes.

Pulling the goggles off helped but then my glasses started fogging (blind without them) and I finally had to pull down the mouth covering of the balaclava. This helped without me feeling too much cold but I still had too much fogging.

Last night -- with weird looks from my wife -- I took an old swimming snorkle and cut it short so that it stopped just past my ears. It worked great! No more fogging when I'm climbing hills and taking in lots of air.

Ritehsedad

I was colder this morning walking in from the parking lot at 15F than I was a week ago riding in from home at 4F. At least I didn't have to take a shower after getting to work today.

Bekologist

Machka, telling people they are not going to experience frostbite until its 30 below is really, really, innacurate and misleading, regardless of what chart you link to.....and stating 'my nose and cheeks are still exposed,(at 30 below) as it should be '- what, exactly, does that mean? Aren't you aware some people experience cold much quicker, or may not be as biologically adapted to the cold, or conditioned to it, like you are?

I certainely reccomend a windstopper hat or helmet liner in extreme cold, most of the hats and 'clavas sold by sub-Performance or Crashbar are NOT windproof....

To minimize fogging issues, try a bandanda like a cattle rustler if your balaclava is dumping too much heat and moisture to your goggles, and breathing sideways sometimes helps keep the goggs from frosting....I too, though, think goggles are overkill for most conditions while biking or ski mountaineering. a good set of sports glasses protect the eyes, and stay clearer than goggles in a lot of conditions...what's worse, tearing eyes, or goggles you can't see through? you be the judge.

Oh, and for the conversionally challenged: converting temps, think 10 degrees of C to 18 degrees of F, and add or subtract 32. Simple as that.

10:18 +/- 32.

vrkelley

I understand that wind chill charts have been improved since say the 90's. But I wonder how that factors in with the wind we experience at riding speeds of say 10mph, 15mph, 20mph, etc.

Machka 

I thought about it ... and that's why I posted the "biological" and "windchill" posts.

And I meant that my nose and cheeks should be exposed so that my glasses don't fog up. When I cover them, that's when my glasses ice up so badly I need window scrapers to be able to chip through it all.

webist

This thread reminds me once again not to complain about temps in the 40's and 50's on my AM ride.

mike

I look at the wind-chill charts and reports with interest, but not with comprehension.

All I know is that if it is windy and below 0 degrees F, then my skin hurts and especially if my forhead is exposed, I get a bad brain freeze. Man, that is painful. That area just around my eyebrows is the worst for me. The pain can just about knock me down. It isn't just cold, it is like a nail in the forehead.

I remember biking to work when it was -20 degrees F. I forgot to wear my felt-lined swampers and wore my work shoes instead. OMG! Ohhh my GOD! By the time I was more than half-way there, my feet were beyond cold. It was closer to keep going to work than to turn back, so I kept going. Oh did I freeze my feet! I got to work and bit about 15 pencils in half just to try to keep from screaming from the pain.

Machka 

That's why you need to wear a headband. I wear mine so it sits on, or just above my eyebrows. A headband will protect that area.


What you experienced there was frostnip or a mild form of frostbite. I think pretty much every Canadian has experienced that at some point in their lives ... at least the prairie Canadians ... and it IS very painful!!

Frostbite has basically the same degree rating that burns do: first degree is fairly mild (although painful), second degree is when blisters develop, third and fourth degree is when the freezing is quite deep. Frostnip and first degree frostbite are pretty much the same thing. There's no tissue damage or long lasting injury. In burning terms, frostnip would be at the level of a sunburn.

https://www.medterms.com/script/main/...rticlekey=3522
https://www.faqs.org/health/Sick-V2/Frostbite.html
https://health.enotes.com/alternative...tbite-frostnip

fruitless

I'm not sure about your head but I learned many years ago while downhill skiing that goggles seem to make a major difference in head warmth even if they don't make a difference in vision. As for visuals; eyeglasses were always my major obstacle in winter sports (climbing and skiing) growing up in Alaska and I went to contacts as soon as I could afford them.

Headbands aren't really adequate for sub zero F stuff, I've been using one of those sythetic head tubes that you can pull over and covers the ears, top of the head and neck underneath the goggles and then a fleece skull cap over the top. Thats my basic head-rig for anything below -5 F.

Machka 

Glasses protect my eyes from the wind without frosting up because they allow some air movement around.

And I don't use ONLY a headband ... if you read one of my previous replies, you'd see I said:

"As I mentioned though, I do wear a knit headband over my ears and low over my forehead to protect my sinuses because they will feel the cold of what I breath and what hits them. Then I wear my balaclava overtop of that to keep the warmth in. Then I wear a helmet cover as an additional measure to trap heat. The balaclava goes around my face and covers my neck and chin, but that's it. My mouth, nose, and cheeks are out and exposed to the air. If it goes down to about 0F, I will add a neck gaiter as additional protection around my neck (because I hate the feeling of cool air blowing down my jersey). I can pull it up over my mouth when I'm climbing and inhaling a lot of cold air quickly, or when I'm decending and there's a lot of wind."

All of that can quite comfortably take me down to -40C/F.

2manybikes

Three cheers for the neck gaiter!

I never heard anyone mention it except me.
I llike being able to adjust on the roll. All the way from under your chin up to under the bottom of the
glasses. It seems like nothing else will do that as well. Not a lot of $$ for what you get.

Bekologist

a bandana or 'the buff' works just as nicely, and are less thick, so trap less heat to potentially frost the goggs....

Machka 

Oh yeah! My neck gaiters are wonderful things!! They are fairly thin and light, and they've got an elastic thing running around the top of them which can be tightened or loosened as desired, to keep them in place ... or even to turn them into a toque if you wanted.

I just pull mine up over my mouth (so that the cold air is filtered), tighten that elastic thing a bit so it'll stay in place ... and I'm set! And like you say ... if it warms up, I can just loosen the elastic thing off, and slide it down under my chin.

I often have one tucked into the little bag on my rack on days where it is nice, but there is the potential it might get chilly ... it never hurts to bring a little bit of extra weather protection along just in case.

I think mine might have cost me maybe $2 each. Come January here they start clearing out all their winter stuff, and I can pick up a lot of nice bits and pieces for next to nothing.