Winter is here...! What to wear for a ride?

I wear one of these:

(Gore Phantom jacket – the sleeves zip off, but not in the Winter…)

And on a cold day like today, a wicking long sleeve shirt (and sometimes an additional short sleeve under that). When it’s 20-30 degrees, a single layer under it is fine. Insulated tights (I have a relatively cheap Nashbar pair that does the job); wool socks, my mountain bike shoes, and covers (a must to keep toes warm). Cold day like today, my gloves didn’t cut it and my fingers froze (time for new ones). Neck warmer, pulled up over chin – let the nose peek out – cap under my helmet…I stayed warm after I got moving, but hands froze – I don’t like big gloves, but 17 degrees is cold for soft shells…

Remove the soles of your shoes. Gives your feet more room to wiggle, hence staying warm. I used to put on thick wool socks, then heavy gore-tex slip overs and my feet still froze. Once I took out the soles and didn’t tighten my shoes so tight, my feet stayed warm.

I’ve been riding in the midwestern winters for 2 years now and have a hard time keeping a tall/thin frame warm. So here’s what I’ve learned.

1) Your extremeties will never stay warm unless your core is warm. Not bearable or just comfortable, but WARM.

2) Wind-proof outer layer is a must. Venting areas (armpits, usually) are a plus, but not entirely necessary. Unzip to keep from overheating if climbing or working harder, zip up when not working as hard.

3) Layers layers layers. This applies to gloves too. My favorite cold weather gloves all have ample room inside to put a pair of liners inside without cramming them full. If hands start to get sweaty, remove liners. Sweaty = cold in a very short while.

4) Cover those shoes! If not too cold, an old sock w/ cleat hole cut in the bottom works okay. Below 40-45 degrees and you will want real booties. Lot of good stuff on the market, and cheap stuff from Nashbar, etc, will work 95-100% as well as anything expensive.

Beyond that, experiment with different types / weights base layers and other layers to find what works for you. Everyone’s a bit different.

I’ll add my 2 cents worth too…

Gloves – I’ve recently been using Pearl Izumi PRO Lobster gloves and am impressed. The gloves themselves are great, but I am equally impressed with the lobster glove concept. Can still shift and brake just fine, and by keeping more fingers together I’m sure they are staying warmer. Caveat: I am yet to test them down into the teens, but they’ve been mighty toasty into the low 20’s so….

Head. I’m a big fan of a neck tunnel plus wool cap combo, versus a balaclava. The former gives you a bunch more options. I would recommend a wool cap with a visor if you plan to ride in snow/rainy conditions. It’s helpful to have the extra protection for your eyes.

Circulation – when it comes to your extremities it really is all about good blood flow. So +10 on allowing more room for your feet within the shoes. Makes a big difference.

Other tidbits.
On really cold rides don’t carry your banana in your back pocket. Frozen banana not so easy to eat while wearing lobster gloves – I’m just saying…..

If you are riding in poor conditions, think heavily about how well lit you are. A good set of lights, and that includes good tail lights are a necessity, especially if you are riding around dawn/dusk and there is snow falling……

Don’t be afraid to “vent”; I’ll often half open the zip on my outer shell to let some cold air in while climbing, just remember to zip up as you summit. That or just climb a little within yourself to avoid sweating up..

Now if only I could shake this cold that is dogging me so that I can get out on my bike!

I knew I hit a gold mine of knowledge… Now by accident I will leave this open on the kitchen table with the pic of the jacket right there… To give ideas to my wife…

I’ll wear a short sleeve jersey under my long sleeve jersey.

Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it myself… Shut The Fuck Up Omne!

A cheap solution is skiing gloves, since I had them lying around already. Only good for sub-zero temps on a long ride, or up to about 5 degrees (centigrade!) on a commute, otherwise they get sweaty and horrible. But really snug and warm when dry.

I will try to use some of the tips here for the feet, mine keep freezing. Especially the left foot (why?)

Then you can go the chemically-assisted route. Any department store will have hand/toe warmers in their outdoors/hunting section. I get those and put them over shoes but under booties to keep the toes warm. Also, if it’s really nasty I’ll throw them inside the lobster gloves between liners and lobster shell.

One more thing – when buying winter gloves, bigger is better. More room for air to circulate, heat up, act as an insulating layer, etc.

Shoes of course has to be size or two bigger.

We even stuffed news papers in between of layers of closings on particularly cold days.

it doesn’t get all that cold in georgia, but when the temps drop, i reach for the wool.

I have an obsession with keeping my neck warm, anyone know of any base layer turtlenecks? Maybe I’m not looking hard enough but I can’t find one, I have a very old one that is basically falling apart, when it’s cold I generally wear that with a balaclava to have 2 thin layers on my neck (when it’s really cold I’ll throw a scarf on too). More than one salesperson has told me that no one makes turtlenecks anymore, wonder why.

Re: head: I have a Rapha winter cap, works great. Rapha is ridiculously expensive (I only bought the cap because it was cheap on ebay), but if you can find a similar cap made by someone else, I’d highly recommend it. For really cold days I put a balaclava under the cap, and my head is always warm.