Cold Weather Cycling Gear

The weather here in western Michigan has officially switched to the "cold" time of the year.  Cold is somewhat relative.  If you live in Mississipi, I would imagine that the weather around here would qualify as "downright freezing".  If you live in Alaska, I would bet you would call this "starting to cool off a little".

Either way, I have had to transition to the cold weather gear so I thought I would write a post on what I have been using/wearing recently.

Tights: I recently picked up a pair of M's Swift Polartec 100 tights.  I ran across the recommendation through a website called Icebike.org.  This is a group dedicated to riding in the winter, even up in Alaska.  I figured there recommendations on cold weather cycling clothing should be pretty solid.  After using these tights, I can say that they are on the money.  My legs have been comfortably warm down to the low 30's with these things.  All I wear under them is a regular pair of bib shorts.  They are nice and stretchy and comfortable against the skin.  Even though they are not meant to be windproof or wind resistant, they do a good job of blocking wind.  I would highly recommended them for cycling, running and cross country skiing.  I would imagine they would also make a great pair of long johns for things like ice fishing, hunting, and snowmobiling.  Regarding price, the sell for $60.  In the cycling world, this is pretty darn cheap.  They aren't as fancified as other cycling tights, but they do their job really well.

Gloves: Nobody likes cold hands.  After trying several combinations of gloves, I have come up with a good combo.  I am using a decent pair of synthetic running gloves under a pair of wool gloves made by Ibex.  Used on their own, the wool gloves don't block enough wind to keep your hands very warm.  The combo of the running gloves under the wool gloves have kept my hands toasty-warm down to the low 30's.  I can say, in all honesty, that I did a 1.5 hour ride this past Saturday with temps that were just below freezing and my hands were not cold at all.  That has been a first for me.  Up until now, my hands were always cold when I first started and would then warm up later.  With these, later is now.  As a side note, I haven't noticed any issues with there being too much pressure on my hands without my riding gloves so there must be just enough inherent padding to keep my hands comfortable.

Hat: Recently, I purchased a cycling hat from Walz Caps.  I got a moisture wicking cap in grey with a burgundy racing strip down the middle.  My noggin is ginormous and I usually take a hat that is at least 7 3/4, so I got the large/x-large.  It fits so nicely.  I'm used to hats that squeeze my head and this doesn't, despite the elastic.  The cap is comfortable on its own for a cool fall day but when it gets colder, I need some ear protection.  As with the gloves, I put on a thin running hat that comes down nicely over my ears and then put the cycling cap on top.  This seems to fit well under my helmet and keeps everything warm without my head being too warm.  In the future, I will likely get a wool cycling cap with ear flaps and see how that works.

Feet: Ah, those darn feet.  To this point, I have not yet found a good combination to keep my toes warm on a cold day.  What have I tried in the past, you ask?

• Wool socks with MTB shoes - the shoes are too ventilated and wind cuts right through them.
• Wool socks with liner socks and MTB shoes - better, but not a ton better.  I feel like there is not enough room in the shoes for the socks and my toes, so I don't get good blood circulation.  Wind still gets through, as well
• Wool socks with liner socks and MTB shoes with shoe covers made by Adidas - the shoe covers certainly help, especially with cutting the wind.  As above, my toes still feel a little squeezed and will get cold.
• Wool socks with shoe covers and neoprene toe gators - These come from a company called Aerotech Solutions.  They make cycling gear right here in the USA.  There is nothing fancy about there stuff, but their prices are good.  I have used these for one ride with temps just below freezing.  At the beginning of my ride, my toes were quite toasty warm.  After about 45-60 minutes, they started to get cold, as they normally do.  Hmmm.  My theory is that my toes might have actually started to sweat some and then got cold from the moisture build up (the trouble with neoprene is that it doesn't breath).  The night before, I used the toe gators while I was outside but not particularly active.  For this, they seemed to work well.
• What to try next?  Probably good wool socks with just the shoe covers.  Maybe my feet will have enough room to wiggle and keep good circulation while the shoe covers cut the wind some.  We'll have to see.  Update - this went reasonably well but I was only out for one hour and it really wasn't all that cold.  I'm wondering if thinner smartwools (the PhD type) with the toe gators will work well.

Tops: This is another area where I have yet to find a good combination.  Most recently, I have tried a standard issue long-sleeve cycling jersey over a thin, wool base layer with a soft shell jacket over top.  This works fairly well but I still tend to get cold.  The wool layer is great and has become a go-to for any rides below 70 degrees, so it has to remain part of the equation.  This coming weekend is supposed to be cold, so my plan is to do another early morning ride this Saturday.  I think I will try arm warmers/wool base layer/fleece vest/soft shell jacket and see how that works.

What's on the horizon?: What would I like, what would I like?  If I could snap my fingers and make several items appear, what would they be?

• Better shoe covers - I get the feeling that the ones I have now are just not all that good (adequate but not good).  The only way to tell is to try new ones.
• Wool long sleeve jersey - I can see a combo of a wool base-layer with a wool jersey being nice and cozy.  There is a company called Portland Cycle Wear that makes jerseys at a reasonable price.
• Waterproof/Windproof cycling jacket - thermal or not thermal, that is the question.
• Update - I just noticed that Aerotech Solutions has a fleece long sleeve jersey for $30.  This seems like it should be worth trying.

Those would be the big things.  If I can cover those bases then cold weather will be much less of a deterent.

What do you do when things are worse than the "Worst Case Scenario"?

At the end of last year, I made a list of bike goals; things I wanted to do by the end of this year.  Doing a 200 kilometer ride was one of those.  This was ambitious but quite doable.  The ride would probably take about 9 hours of total time with about 8 hours of actual riding time.

I chose this years Colorburst ride for my attempt.  One of the routes is 100k so if I rode it twice, my goal would be achieved.  A considerable amount of time and energy was put into planning and preparing for this ride, including several Bike Days.  My Bike Days were regular, old Wednesdays were I took the day off, woke early, and rode all day.  The last one of the year was 103 miles.  I was ready.  It was not a matter of if, but when.  I knew what it would take and I was confident I had it in me.

Nutrition?  No problem.  Hydration?  Got ya covered.  Fatigue?  I can handle that.  Cold?  That's what good clothes are for.

Rain?  Crap.

As the day approached, the forecast was for a 40% chance of rain, probably in the afternoon.  No big deal. That I can handle.  Most of the ride will be done by then.  If I get a little wet at the end, it won't stop me.  It just makes the story better.

A few more days passed and it switched to an 80% chance of rain, still with most of the rain in the afternoon.  Hmmm...how should I handle this?  Use the rain coat?  Probably a good idea.  What about the feet?  Good question.  I've never been able to fully close up my shoe covers because they are just a little too small.  AHA!  Michelle can sew some extra velcro material on!  She did (Thanks Honey!) and they fit much better. I knew this wouldn't completely prevent wet feet but I thought it would hold things off.

Friday arrived and the forecast was upgraded to a 100% chance of rain, mostly likely starting in the late morning.  Oh boy.  This isn't looking good.

At this point, I switched from planning to wishful thinking.

Maybe it won't rain that much.  Maybe the forecasters are giving us a Worst Case Sceneario.

I'm sure my clothing will hold out.  How wet could it be?

On Saturday morning, I woke early and made sure I had everything.  When I checked the radar map, all I saw was a big green blob the size of the Mitten that was almost to Muskegon/Grand Haven.

This is the point at which the wishful thinking ended.  Today was going to be a big pile of suck.

As I was driving toward Lowell, I noticed it was not yet raining.

Try to get as many miles in as you can before the rain starts and then deal with conditions.

On the way out there, there was not a single drop of rain on my windshield.  Not.  One.  Drop.

I got out of my car and started to unload my bike.  As I was doing this, it started to sprinkle.  I kid you not.  Further evidence that God does have a sense of humor.

After checking in with the ride officials, I turned on my lights, hopped on my bike and took off.  At this point, it was still a very light sprinkle.

A little sprinkle is nothing.  It's not enough to really have any effect on the day.

By the way, it was about 35 degrees out.  The one bright spot for the day was that I was actually dressed quite well for the cold.  Had the rain not been part of the equation, the day would have turned out much differently.

One of the reasons I chose the Colorburst was that it is basically a series of short rides connected together.  Instead of thinking, "You have to ride 124 miles", my thought process was more like "Ok, you're done with a 20 mile ride.  Next is a 25 mile ride".  A series of short rides sounds a lot more do-able than one 124 mile ride.

Within 5 miles of starting, the rain started coming down harder.  Joy.  At this point, it was still beading up on my coat but I could feel it soaking into my tights.

No big deal, you're legs are still warm.  You're still cruising along pretty well.

At about 10 miles, I could feel the top of my left sock getting wet.

That's not good.  You know where the water's going.  Oh great, now the top of the right sock is getting wet.

So, I'm about 10 miles in and my socks are already getting wet.  My shoe covers and shoes were actually doing a good job of keeping the water out.  What was happening was that water was soaking my tights and running down my leg and getting under the shoe cover.  My shoes have a Gore-Tex liner so any water that gets in cannot get out.

When I got to the first rest stop, it wasn't even open yet (I had started about an hour earlier than most people would).  This was no big deal because I hadn't expected it to be open.  The next loop was about 20-25 miles, so I kept going.

You're feet are pretty wet.  Not too long before they are nice and numb.  124 miles doesn't seem likely.  Maybe just 62 today.  Finish this loop and then back to the start.  That sucks pretty hard but it's better than nothing.

About 3 miles down the road, I realized my feet were no longer simply wet but were quite literally swimming in my shoes.  I could actually feel pooled water around my toes.

Ok, if you keep going this is going to get ugly fast.  The smart thing to do is to turn around and head back.  On the other hand, you're not going to get another chance at this, at least this year.

In the end, I made what was probably the right decision and turned around to head back.  Interestingly, I rode more miles after that point than before.

By the time I actually got back, I was sooooo wet.  I was not tired, however.  Had conditions been better, I don't doubt that I would have met my goal.  My final tally for the day was 41.4 miles and about 1300 feet of climbing.  According to my Garmin, it never got above 37 degrees.

On the way home, I peeled off my shoes and socks and blasted the heat on my feet.  By the time I got home, I could actually feel my toes again.  Sensation in your toes is such a nice thing.  I highly suggest it.

I was home by about 10:30 and spent the rest of the day hanging out with Michelle and the kiddos.  We even went to Chuck E. Cheese in the evening.

I didn't do my 200k ride.  I didn't even really come close.  What I ended up with was, basically, a decent ride marred by cold & rain.  Disappointing to say the least.  It is highly unlikely that I will get another chance this year.  The newest Terrell is due in Novemeber and I don't have any more time off except for holiday stuff.

Sigh.

On the plus side, the ride was educational.  First, I have a pretty good set up for cold weather riding.  My feet might have gotten a little cold yesterday, but I think the rest of me would have been fine.  The next time it is 35 degrees, I won't flinch at going out.

Second, riding in the rain was actually kind of enjoyable (except for the soaking wet part).  The roads were nice and quiet and hearing the rain fall was a surprisingly relaxing.  With the right gear/bike set up, I might just look forward to a rainy day ride.

Third, I got out there and gave it a solid go when many people would have stayed home (I will admit, this option strongly crossed my mind).  The fact that I had worked so hard to prepare and plan for this ride got me out there.  The old saying "You don't know until you try" kept running through my head.

For 2013, I'm going to add a new goal: do a rainy day ride of at least 2 hours without getting soaking wet.  Achieving this goal ought to be easy.  All I need is the right equipment.  All I need to get the right equipment is money.  And this is where the plan falls apart some.

One of the things I like the most about cycling is all the cool gear and gadgets.  What I like the least about cycling is how much money all that gear and gadgets costs.

Here is what I think I will need:

WARNING!!!  WARNING!!!  GEEKY CONTENT APPROACHING!!!

1. Fenders - I recently saw a company that has a developed a set of full coverage fenders designed specifcally for bikes that don't usually fit fenders.  The come from sks-germany.com.
2. A good quality, waterproof cycling jacket.  I have some ideas here but nothing specific.
3. Waterproof shoe covers.  I saw a pair from Gore Bike Wear that come up pretty high on the leg.  Between these and fenders, I would likely avoid water running down my legs into my shoes.
4. Some tights that are at least water resistant.

If I can figure out good options for the list above, I might just look forward to riding in the rain.

100 miles on a Wednesday? Why not!

Yesterday (9/26/12) was my last bike day of the year.  Why not go out with a bang!  I rode 103 miles by 2:20 in the afternoon.  Not too bad, I would say.

The last bike day of the year called for a change in strategy.  I have often felt that focusing on the number of miles ridden served as a mental block for me.  The internal conversation would go something like this...I'm only at 60 miles!  That means I have 40 more miles to go.  Ugh.

The question became, what would happen if I didn't know how many miles I had gone?  What if I just rode for the amount of time I had available and let the miles happen?

Luckily, I can change what variables my Garmin Edge 500 will display.  There are actually 3 display screens and you can customize the number of items on each screen and what variables are on each screen.  If you have a heart rate monitor and power meter attached to your bike, there is an almost endless number of possibilities to the data you can monitor.

On my main screen, I chose to have Ride Time, Current Speed, and % Grade.  Distance wasn't even listed until the third screen, which I never looked at.

I woke early, ate breakfast and hopped on my bike.  The day began with a ride up Kenowa Ave to very near the northen Kent county line.  The northen county line is actually 22 mile but when I got to 21 mile, Kenowa switched from paved to a windy, uphill dirt road.  I deemed 21 Mile to be good enough.

When I got home, I refilled water bottles, had an extra snack, started a load of laundry and took off.  The second loop of the day was somewhat less well planned.  What I mean by that is I hadn't decided where I was going to go.

There was a small mechanical issue which did infuence my decision making.  The cleat on my left shoe was repeatedly coming loose and needed to be retightened.  By the time I was done with my Kenowa Ave loop, I had tightened it down 3 times.  Should I stop at Freewheeler or at Village Bike in Jenison?

The loop I had hypothesized took me out past Village Bike in Jenison, so I stopped there.  The nice gentleman at the repair desk fiddled around with my shoe for about 5 minutes and I was set to go (for free BTW!).  Big thanks to Village Bike.  One of my worries was that I would be 5 miles short of 100 for the day and have some type of malfunction that would keep me from continuing.

The rest of my second loop took me out past GVSU, through Marne, down 6 mile and back home.  Once I was home again, I took a look at the time.  I had an asthma check up at 3:15 in the afternoon so I wanted to be done around 2:15 to give me time to eat, wash up and rest some.  That left me about 45 minutes more to ride.  In a uncharacteristic moment of mercy, I chose to ride up the White Pine Trail for a while and then turn around and come back.  Nice and flat and easy.

Shortly before getting back home, I did check my distance and saw that I was at 102 miles.  Fabulous!  That makes 2 century rides for the year with one more to come at the Colorburst.

Did not knowing my distance help?  It certainly seemed to.  One of my co-workers is a pyschologist and she said I was keeping myself "in the moment".  That sounds about right.  During any given part of the ride, I was thinking more about keeping up a steady, do-able pace rather than how many miles I had left.

On October 13, I am going to ride my first 200 kilometer ride (that's about 124 miles).  I know the route well.  There will be no surprises there.  Knowing how many miles I have ridden will not give me any valuable information.  I know what I have to do and where I have to go.  All I have to do now is get out and ride it. 

Knowing that I have recently done a century and not been totally wiped out by it will help a lot.  By the time I got home, I did feel as if I could have kept going (I was happy to be finished, I should say).

As Yogi Berra once said, "Half the game is 90% mental."