Seattle Forrest

My water was starting to freeze. Kind of a pain in the ass, because the city "winterized" (turned off) all the water fountains a month ago.

I do the three layer thing, like when I'm hiking or snow shoeing, and enjoy the dry, clear weather.

How many people are riding (outdoors) in sub-freezing temps?

svtmike

I will ride as long as the roads aren't dangerous (either from ice/snow on pavement or snowbank lane constriction). It's pretty easy to stay warm at sub-freezing with the right equipment. The hardest thing to get right is preventing fogging of the glasses.

Fedor

Have a cookie.

Seattle Forrest

I don't like cookies. Make me some Indian food.

svtmike

Make that an oatmeal-butterscotch chip cookie and I'll take a few.

1nterceptor

I ride in the winter as long as there's no snowstorm.
Before a snowstorm ok, after one alright, but not during


Snowmountains by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

revchuck 

The water is an easy fix. A shot of Jameson's per bottle.

My weekend rides have been starting in the mid-30s. Doesn't get much colder down here. My biggest problem is grossing people out with snot rockets when I stop at a convenience store to refill my bottles. At least I do them outside.

rdubbz

I use insulated water bottles and fill them with hot water before i leave.

nosaj

I did 20 miles in 20-23F weather on Sunday.

Shimagnolo

30 miles last night sometime between 6pm and 9pm. Temps were in the mid-20's, negligible wind.

Debusama

I am, but mostly on the mountain bike, at least until the trails get buried in snow.

Homebrew01

I was thinking about trying that. How long does it stay liquid ?
Currently I put a bottle or 2 in my jersey pocket under my jacket. Have to stop to get it in & out though.

Seattle Forrest

What do you folks use for insulation?

I find that if I'm warm enough when I leave the house, I'm going to be overheating a mile or two down the road.

hyhuu

Plenty of people. There is a whole forum dedicated to winter cycling.

rdubbz

depends how cold it is. My rides usually don't go longer than 2-3 hours so they are good.

pallen

I ride below freezing as long as there isnt any snow or ice on the roads. We dont get much of that here though.

trevor_ash

Obvious but serious answer....if you're comfortably warm when you first start riding, you're over dressed.

renton

I rode this Saturday, it was just above freezing. It went OK until I had to fix a flat tire

svtmike

This. Start out wearing less. Figure out what works for you.

Shimagnolo

I just had the ride from hell on Saturday riding Flagstaff Mt. It was bad enough dragging brakes all the way down to deal with the ice patches and loose sand, but...

1. Flat tire while descending Flagstaff, popped bead and pulled out inner tube to see it was an overlapping patch where I had fixed a snakebite flat, (from some idiot throwing landscaping rocks into the street). I really didn't want to pull off the rear wheel to change the tube, so I crossed my (frozen) fingers and put a temporary self-adhesive patch over top of it. Pumped up the tire, and heard no leaks.

2. 1-2 miles later, flat again. Ugh. stuck front wheel into a snow bank, then flipped rear of bike up, leaning saddle against a tree. Changed tube. Now my hands are totally frozen. Got down into Boulder, went into convenience store restroom, put hands in sink of warm water, and screamed for a few minutes.

3. Headed home, (~20 miles). As I reached home, I could feel the rear tire getting softer and the occasional thump of the rim against the road. The new tube had a pinhole leak in it.

Seattle Forrest

I haven't had to change a flat in this kind of cold. That would be pretty awful. It only takes a few minutes to go from very warm to uncomfortably cold.

Menel

Not gotten that cold here yet. Water bottles do freeze, and it sucks.

Forecast was high of 15F this day for where we were trying to get to.

Just above snow line, short break from climbing to admire scenery.


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Bottles frozen, I give up.



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zonatandem

Now living in AZ instead of cold MI the past 33 years. Now we think 50 degrees is cold!
However, back in the 70s in Michigan, we rode when it was 20 degrees and road was dry.
Had no fancy winter type cycling clothing then; but snowmobile mittens worked as did 2 pair of wool socks, wool legwarmers, ski band, wool sweater + nylon jacket.
Another layer we used, at times, was to put a couple sheets of newspaper as insulation between jersey and jacket. Great for the first 10 miles and when we got warmer, easy to dispose of newspaper.
A shot of vodka/gin/booze (not beer) in water bottle keeps water from freezing (think anti-freeze!).
Glad we can ride most of our winters here at 50 to 70 degrees! Summers are another story . . .

ravenmore

It was 27 when I rode to work last week. Could've used an extra layer on my hands but everything else was fine.

AndyK 

It was 25f and dark here this morning, and I was fine, except my fingers felt like they were freezing off! Damned "winter" bike gloves all SUCK below 30! When I go out next, I'm wearing my ski gloves, damn it!