This post will discuss the painful and pleasant lessons of cycling in cold conditions and how to make memories in freezing rain. It’s a dense topic worth studying and is best reflected upon at a rowdy table of folks who understand what it’s like.
Here we offer an overview and some quality trails to explore. So leave your cotton at home, cuddle up with a water bottle of coffee, and enjoy.
Cycling in inclement weather is an art of patience and balance. It’s not so much staying on the bike as it is your body temperature, your attitude, and your ability to keep hydrated and your energy up.
There is an elite class of everyday people who love to Icebike, but even fewer who bicycle tour in foul weather. In the end, everything comes back to layers.
Thermoregulation (staying warm), is a matter of pace, layering right, allowing just enough cool air in, and staying dry. You’re going to ride regardless so the best place to start is with reliable layered clothing.
Your long sleeved base layer is crucial to keeping your body balanced between too hot and too cold. This first layer is works well under another shirt (or a costume) on days in their 50’s and will often be enough if you’re riding hard and the wind is still.
Something to remember when riding in your base layer; throw a wind breaker or a jacket over you when you stop for a break. This will help keep the heat you’ve created close to your body and your muscles warm though the rest.
But now when you get on a bicycle in 40 degrees that’s a different day of cycling. Wearing a jacket, a windbreaker, or a zippered mid-layer becomes common practice, as does opening/closing pockets, sleeves, and chest for ventilation. Putting on your long johns over those bike shorts and a pair of rain pants and cycling stockings over the top is a safe bet on these days.
Again, how hard you ride, the rain, the wind, cloud cover, and what you’re riding up or down will all factor into how you layer up out there.
Someone once told us “start cold.” It’s true. Overdressing is an easy mistake to make when it feels cold off the bike. It has also been said that if you’re warm for the first ten minutes of cycling- you’re got too many clothes on. This is true in the same way. Pull over before you get sweaty and set that body temp straight.
Wheeled Migration doesn’t cycle in anything less than 30 degrees, but if we did just happen upon this temperature one day, we’d dress like this.
When it comes to patience, you can get pissed or get prepared. Preparation will get you out there, keeping your mind in shape is a different matter.
On tour, attitude is everything. Getting a wet and getting cold is sometimes what you get between being hot and dry. Keeping your peace with the elements and pressing on down the road does get easier. It may take a hundred days of wet chamois but there will come a time when suddenly riding a bicycle in the rain outshines that same day back in the workweek.
Smile bright and ride safe.