Phil_gretz

^ awesome left side crank and steep quill stem on that rig. Love it.

voyager1

Lots of good advice for the original poster. One thing I would add is a buff style neck warmer. I have a Castelli Neck Thingy, but other brands sell them too.

rsbob 

I’m of the same vein. I never want to feel warmly dressed when I start, just a bit cool or chilly. After 10 minutes, all is good, except maybe fingers, so I will resort to glove liners if below 60 and real gloves below 50. Positively detest cold fingers and toes, so keep those warm.

Hate jackets (wind socks) so wear a vest with a T under my jersey. Have Pearl (iP) shorty arms and legs (not sure what their given names are) which I can easily add or remove to my back pockets if too warm/cold. Neoprene booties keep the feeties warm when really cold.

Used to feel smug about suffering when the weather turned to crap, while all the weenies retreated. Now I’m the weenie heading to the indoor trainer.

cjenrick

I wear an old Kokatat kayaking dry top. I cut out the latex gaskets because hopefully I will not be upside down in a river filled with snow melt.

It is super thick Gortex. No insulation, so you control the temp with layers, you are not stuck with a fixed jacket temp. . And it won't rip apart like a 300 dollar Shakedry if you hit some leaves wrong.

It breathes supper good, all I need is a T shirt underneath and it is pure comfort. They are about 500 bucks but if you buy them used then it ain't bad. You just add layers underneath depending on the temp so it is never too hot or too cold. wearing the dry top alone usually means that what ever temp it is outside, that will be the temp inside. It is actually fun to ride thru a torrent and not feel the slightest.

Put some freezer bags over your bare feet, then socks and whatever shoes you want. Legs? who cares if they get wet. As long as your knees are covered. I those freaks in the tour can wear shorts through a blizzard then I am ok with standard tights. Stay away from the lobster gloves, just buy something cheap at the goodwill and spray them with Scotchguard.

These things are totally waterproof. There is no zipper to leak or get stuck.. It is a pull over. You can wear them in a car wash and not a drop will enter the dry top. They have velcro/neoprene on the wrists and neck and waist so you can let in as much air as you want. There is also an inner layer of nylon with a draw string for a double seal. And people can see it. This guy was made in 1990 and still going srtong, made in Humboldt CA. I quit whitewater so this was basically free.