Winter Riding Tips
Winter can be a challenge to cyclists, especially in our
cold, Canadian climate where the temperatures dip and roads
ice over. How can you be prepared for winter? Read more and
find out!
Know your enemies
You're going to be warmer on a bike than standing around
in the cold, so resist the temptation to add on layers of
sweaters and extra socks. It will just make you sweat, which
will then make you chilled. Sweat and road muck are your worst
enemies since being wet creates a permanent chill. Your other
enemy is windchill. Your face, hands and thighs are vulnerable
to the wind you create on your bike and they need protection.
Your head
Face, ears, neck and scalp. They all freeze quite quickly,
and the wind can really sting, giving your earaches, wind
burn and chills.
A helmet liner (from cycling out outdoor gear stores like
Mountain Equipment Co-op) is a thin fleece layer that can
be worn under your helmet if you loosen the straps a bit or
remove the little foam inserts on the inside of your helmet.
It has litte flaps that cover your ears and keep the wind
out nicely. I find this is enough to keep my scalp and ears
warm in almost any weather.
People with lots of hair may find that it's already a challenge
to keep their helmets snug. For those with extra scalp padding,
I'd suggest a fleece ear muffler, which look like the headbands
that tennis players wear except it's meant to be worn over
your ears.
A neck warmer is usually made of fleece too and can be pulled
up over your nose and high up the back of your neck. Unlike
a scarf it stays in place and covers your face more effectively.
The main disadvantage with this is that your glasses can fog,
so you have to push your breath against the fabric a bit which,
suprisingly, you can get used to. If this doesn't work for
you, a balaclava that is tight to your face can replace both
this and the helmet liner, but take it off before you go into
stores. Also available from cycling and outdoorsy stores.
I'd also recommend keeping some heavy facial cream handy
when you cycle. It can reduce wind burn and help your face
feel warmer. Palmer's cocoa butter cream, Nivea or other thick
creams should refresh your skin if you find your lips and
cheeks sore after a windy cold day.
With these two pieces of equipment, available for less than
$5 each, your head is well-warmed and you're on your way to
winter riding.
Legs
Your legs will stay fairly warm since they're working as
you ride, except for your thighs. The wind catches them and
can create a deep chill which is hard on your working muscles
and uncomfortable for rides of more than15 or 20 minutes.
An extra layer is helpful here, especially just to cut the
wind. Never wear jeans while cycling in the cold, they make
the cold much worse. Fleece, spandex, tightly-woven cotton
and wool are all good choices for covering your legs. You
might want an extra shell for those extra bad days of windy,
wet or snowy weather.
Most cycling pants have a goretex layer to cut the wind,
but a cheaper alternative is to just wear a layer of polyprolene
under your normal pants. I used to wear my spandex pants as
long underwear when I biked to work. It was cheaper to just
buy one thing for winter wear than get more specialized clothing,
and the spandex could serve me as fall/spring pants and then
again in winter as an under layer. Since spandex is quite
thin, it fit underneath my work pants just fine. If you generally
wear tighter pants to work, you may have to get cycling pants
and then change when you get to work. Alternately, if you
can afford goretex pants wear them over your regular pants
and they will help keep your pants clean too.
Since road muck is a problem in winter, wearing pant clips
will help keep your ankles warm and your pants clean.
Feet
Don't go overboard trying to keep your feet warm with heavy
socks. In fact, it's more important that your feet don't get
wet, so focus on good leather shoes or boots that cover your
ankle. If you wear delicate office shoes, you may need to
change into them at work, since the average high heel just
won't protect your feet from the cold. Normal weight cotton,
polypro or wool mix socks are fine, just make sure they are
long enough to cover up your ankle where the wind climbs.
Hands
A 2 layer system of fleece mitts and goretex shells will
get you through the worst days, but changing gears is hard
when you're wearing mitts. Some cycling gloves offer a lobster
alternative where 2 fingers are together in each 'claw' to
maximize the warming effect of grouping fingers while still
giving you some flexibility.My favourite and most useful choice
for the Toronto winter, however, is a nice cycling glove by
Pearl Izumi that allows all your fingers independent movement,
is an all-in-one insulation and shell deal, has a leather
palm for good grip, and even has a cloth strip along the back
and thumb for you to wipe your nose. They look like ski gloves
in that they're puffy looking and were fairly expensive from
MEC, but they are the most practical solution to keeping your
hands warm.
Understanding Fabrics
I know many people who've immigrated to Toronto from warmer
climates who spend the first few winters freezing until they
learn more about how to dress warmly, so take some time to
learn about the different types of materials available. It
can be a bit confusing, since you have many choices to create
your wardrobe. However, if you think of it as a 'clothing
system' it will become easier. For example, on your feet you
wear socks to be comfortable against your skin and shoes to
protect them from hard objects and wetness. When you buy cycling
gloves, they often have their own layers built in - something
soft and breathable against your skin, insulation in the middle
and then a harder, windproof shell. In cold weather, you need
a similar collection or layers on your body to keep warm.
How does a fabric breath?
By 'breathable' I mean that it can pass moisture away from
your skin effectively, rather than trapping it against your
skin. If you wrapped plastic against your skin, you would
notice the sweat building up within minutes, because plastic
wrap is waterproof and the water you generate can't pass through
it and evaporate. Managing moisture is tricky in winter riding
because your body can generate as much as the weather. As
most cyclists know after a long ride, your waterproof jacket
can leave you more soaked than the rain! By using layers,
you can pass moisture away from your skin and still be protected
from the wet outside. It's usually a tradeoff, however, of
how waterproof a fabric is and how well it breathes.
How to compare insulating value?
Don't assume that a heavy jacket is the warmest. Instead,
hold the fabric in your hand and breathe through it. You can
feel the heat from your breath on your hand through the material.
Compare this against another material. How well you can feel
the heat, how much comes through and how quickly is a good
test of how insulating the material is. A material that can
keep your warm breath away from your hand will be good for
keeping cool winds away from your body too. Use this method
to compare whether any given fleece or wool jacket is warmer
than the other. Also, you can compare combinations in this
manner by holding up the underwear, sweater and shell of your
choice and breathing through the different combinations to
see how they compare when working together.
First layer - against the skin
Cotton is a light fabric that breathes well and is best used
as a layer against that is comfortable and will absorb your
sweat. Many cottons are blended with synthetic fabrics to
provide strength and stretchiness. I find my skin starts to
sweat if I have less than 50% cotton in a blend, so while
a bit of synthetic is good, too much is bad for those of us
with sensitive skin.
Under heavy riding conditions, polypropelene is a synthetic
fabric that actually works a bit better at cotton at wicking
the sweat away from your skin. Although it's plastic, it's
specially made in layers to wick moisture away from you. However,
while polypro keeps you drier, it's not always as comfortable
to wear. Both of these fabrics are easy to wash and durable.
I should mention here than spandex can be worn against the
skin. Winter spandex, especially, comes with it's own built-in
layers of a fluffy soft lining, an insulating weave and a
water/wind repellent layer on the outside. For this reason,
many cycling don't layer on their legs, but just wear spandex
pants by themselves on cooler rides. For those of you considering
using this as your primary gear, however, be aware that spandex
picks up and holds odours more than cotton or wool. While
underwear protects spandex pants to some degree, many people
have been dismayed to find that their spandex long-sleeve
shirts need a layer of cotton underneath to protect it from
trapping underarm odour. On the plus side of this problem,
spandex dries quickly and can usually be washed and dried
overnight.
Insulating layer
Fleece is a synthetic material made from plastics that is
still remarkably soft against your skin and breathes moderately
well. Under long riding conditions however, it retains too
much moisture and can trap it against your skin, creating
a chill. However, it's relatively inexpensive to purchase,
washable and durable. It doesn't itch like wool, and is just
as insulating for the weight and bulkiness, so it's a growing
favourite among cyclists.
Silk is extraordinarily warm for it's weight, breathes beautifully
and is even cool in summer. The only reason we aren't all
wearing it all the time is because it's very expensive, tears
easily and needs hand washing.
Wool is a good insulator used most often in sweaters, socks
and pants. Many people find it itchy to wear directly against
the skin, and it can create a slick sweat if you don't wear
cotton or polypropolene underneath. Although a tight-knit
sweater can keep out the wind better than a loosely knit sweater,
wool works best with a layer worn on top to cut the wind.
Down is used as a fill in jackets, duvets or sleeping bags.
Goose down is warmer than duck down, and the down itself,
which is the small fluffiest part of the feathers, is more
effective, warmer and more expensive that the feathers.
Top layer - the shell to protect against weather
This is the layer than is used to cut the exterior elements
such as wind or rain.
Leather and fur skin are natural shells that also provide
insulation. Because they are animal hides, they are breathable
and usually waterproof when treated properly. Fur is a better
insulator than leather, which requires heavier layers for
the equivalent insulation. However, they are bulky for wearing
on your body and come from animals.
Plastic rain jackets are available relatively inexpensively,
but they can't be used on long rides without causing their
own moisture problems. I have a pair of rain pants I use for
days with mucky roads to protect my clothes, but I upgraded
to a Goretex shell as soon as I could afford to do so. For
a long ride, I'd be sure to wear Spandex under my rain pants,
since it's still comfortable to wear while they get wet, unlike
a pair of cotton pants than start to chafe when they're wet.
Goretex is a small miracle in terms of being waterproof while
still letting your skin breathe. However, a hard ride can
outpace it's ability to vent moisture, so the best Goretex
jackets also have zippers under your arms or across your back
that can be opened to vent directly. These are very important,
and during winter riding they help vent excess heat as well.
Your torso
This is an area where you don't want to bulk up too much,
in fact, getting armpit ventilation may be more important
depending on how much you sweat already and how hard you ride.
I found that a thick sweater with a goretex cycling jacket
was plenty for all winter. Most of the winter, I ride with
the pit zips open. That's how much heat your body generates
even as the wind numbs your face.
I now ride with a thicker winter jacket, although I do find
it bulkier and harder to lean forward in. Get a coat that
had lots of room in the shoulders, so that leaning forward
with your arms out doesn't pull the whole coat up to your
ears. when trying out a winter coat for riding, hold your
arms out as you would on your bike. Don't get the coat unless
it's comfortable in this position.
If I wanted to use my thick winter jacket with no zips, I'd
probably find that a long-sleeved shirt and a fleece vest
would be enough underneath to keep me warm. The goretex cycling
jacket is nice, however, because it has a flap to protect
your butt from road juice, however, a strategically placed
pannier bag and rack can block most of the mush flying up
from your wheels.
You can mix and match as you prefer, and you can plan your
system based on what clothes you already have, or how expensive
it is to get alternative systems. For example, you could wear:
or:
or:
-
mid-weight cotton shirt
-
heavy down jacket
Other riding tips ...
Ride hard for the first couple of minutes to get warmed up.
About mid-ride you may find yourself opening a zipper or two
to cool down.
Wear lights colours and make sure your lights are fully charged
since it's darker more of the time. You'll save money using
rechargable batteries.
All your cycling clothes should be light coloured, but not
white to blend in with the snow. Driving conditions can be
terrible and you want motorists to see your blinking lights,
relfective strips and fire-engine red jacket from a good distance
away! If it's snowing out, you should look like a plane coming
in for landing.
Make sure your lights are strong enough to be visible in
snowy and rainy weather. Try them out sometime. Your lights
aren't actually for you to navigate riding, it's so other
vehicles can see you coming.
If you aren't wearing a helmet yet, winter is the time to
start.
Don't bother riding on a snowy road even if you have fancy
tires. I fall every winter trying to remember this lesson.
Get a bike rack for the back of your bike. You will want
to carry bags behind you to keep your weight balanced lower,
since roads can be slippery, and they also help catch that
your tires actually pick up off the road and throw in an unattractive
line up your back. Attach a square of carboard flat to the
top of the bike rack that's slightly wider and longer than
the rack itself. This will catch more road muck. Leave it
there for the duration of the winter.
Strapping pannier bags and other storage devices to the back
of your bike will keep cars further away, which is important
as your road gets narrowed with puddles and snowbanks. Motorists
seem calculate how far to stay away from you by your back
wheel (as opposed to your handlebars) and adding racks and
bags shifts this spot sideways. In my more cycnical moments
I'm convinced they're more worried about scratching their
cars as they sideswipe you. For winter riding, you can make
up for the fact that you might be changing clothes when you
get to work by carrying an extra bag of clothing in a bike
basket. A bike rack with one of those folding metal baskets
sticking out towards the road works wonders for keeping cars
further away, also taking some of the muck thrown up by your
tires while it takes the weight of your backpack off your
back.
Pannier bags carry the weight lower on your bike, which makes
balancing easier for heavy loads. You can also get a safety
flag that sticks out to discourage cars from getting too close.
by Regan McClure
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