Gore-tex is good for rain an wind, fleece is good for cold. In general, synthetic materials will be better in inclement weather conditions.
Well, firstly, I used to surf year round for 25 yrs or so even to the point of having frost in my hair getting from water to out of wetsuit and into dry clothes so that conditioning to the foul weather made anything on the bike seem nicer. My main foe on the bike is gonna be wind chill so it's all about layers. I don't buy all the fancy bike gear but do have long leggings, full finger gloves, headband/ear warmer, winter socks, thermals to go under stuff, rain jacket to over layers to stay dry and wind proof. I wear bigger rash guard surfing shirts for biking where they fit like normal XL T shirts because they dry instantly from rain or sweat and are usually 50 SPF, normal lycra padded bike shorts, padless loose fitting bike shorts over them if need be, 2 prs of gloves & extra thick or extra pr of socks if need be.......just whatever the situation calls for. Mostly my ears/face/head, hands & feet is the focus of staying warm whether wet or dry. Surfing booties or gloves make nice warm and dry hands/feet & more functional than layers sometimes. I could just ride in my full wetsuit in a blizzard to kill windchill but I'd die of heatstroke. Tried to wear it as a Halloween costume one time and it was 30 something and found out then that Antarctica is the only place I could get away with that. Most of what I wear is a mix of multisport clothing that can be used not just for their main purpose. Not gonna lie that it may be restrictive to stay warm and alive in some of it but hypothermia is not my friend. I will take performance loss over that anytime, besides, I'm out for fun not to earn living doing any sport or collect trophies so it matters not. The exercise and being out in nature is the reward. Me and the bike getting back from wherever is trophy enough, lol. I am the engine in most of my leisure activities. Synthetic stuff outerwear for camping, hiking, biking, surfing or any outdoor sport can be used. Just gotta source out cost effective stuff that covers your needs, doesn't necessarily have to be bike specific. Online bike parts places like Nashbar, Jensonusa, performancebike, cambriabike, icycleusa, bikeparts.com are good places to save money on clothing over bike shop prices. Plus all the outdoor sports stores can be good for clothing sales. Used to be that everything except full bikes were always cheaper online but nowadays that has tightened up somewhat so I suggest just comparing prices + shipping and hunt around for cost savings. I am not financially independent so I'm always searching out bargains on quality lasting stuff. It takes time to build your way into any sport so just keep adding to what you have as you add to what you do and your gear will grow with how much and how many different things you do. No sense diving in and spending 10k on gear for something you end up not really liking or doing for more than a little bit so just ease into things as you ease into longer rides and different terrain and challenges and before you know it you have most things covered and enjot all of it instead of stressing over just surviving it.Originally Posted by SierraSlim .
[COLOR= #0000ff]Impressive, i1toride![/COLOR]
[COLOR= #0000ff]Can I ask what kind of gear you have that helps you enjoy such rides? I'm gonna need to know, cuz I need to be on the bike!! [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #0000ff]Thanks for the input![/COLOR]
[COLOR= #0000ff]Sierra[/COLOR]
Originally Posted by kdelong .
Similar to Rocket Man, my ride induced hypothermia was caused by riding in cooler weather with insufficiently warm clothing. I like to ride in the early morning when no one else is around. One morning I woke up and wanted to ride but it was a little cooler than I realized. The temperature was right around 40 degrees but I figured that I would warm up from the exercise so I didn't dress much different other than wearing a long sleeve jersey and a pair of long trousers. I did not factor in the wind chill that I was creating riding at 25 MPH and it just sucked the heat away from my body. I began to get a little disoriented and had a few close calls before getting home. After getting into the house, I was shivering uncontrollaby and tried to get warm by jumping into bed with several blankets piled on top. After about 15 minnutes, I was still shivering, so I jumped into the hot tub with the water temperature tuned up and stayed there for a couple of hours until my core temperture was pretty close to where it should be. Lesson learned: dont ride in cold weather without the right gear, and factor in the fact that you are going to be creating a wind chill, even on calm days.
Originally Posted by Rocket_Man .
I have to get in on this one... ...WHOA, this got long...sorry.
I live in Rapid City, SD. Last year was my first "Big Charity Ride"...I planned/trained all summer long for this event, so nothing was going to stop me. The ride was Sept 12-13th. The weekend before the ride was BEAUTIFUL!!! Looked at the 10-Day outlook...its looking good for my ride...Woo-Hoo!!! Could hardly contain myself...I had a hour countdown till my ride started and everything. As the week progressed the forecast got worse and worse. Temperatures dropping to the low 40's---highs in the 60's. Not bad...but the chance for rain was on the rise, by the day before the ride it was 60% chance of rain...and I don't have rain gear. Ugh...better at least get a rain coat!!!
Saturday morning, wake up to look at the radar **sigh** One of those sights that is just a bummer...the whole screen is GREEN with rain. So, I zoom out a little, then a little more, and a little more. I can see all of SD, ND, NE, and part of MN. The rain streaks all the way from about Fargo,ND...across and down through Rapid City...and moving south into NE. Its going to be an ALL DAY rain.
Get all my stuff ready (including my new rain coat), and a vest...for whatever warmth that might give me. I get to the start/finish line. You know, yeah, its 42 degrees and raining...but its not that "bad", and it will warm up throughout the day...right? So I decide to start with just my cycling gear and rain coat. Being to psyched up for the ride and not using common sense...I start the ride. Shortly thereafter, common sense starts to sink in. We are going to be gaining elevation (if I remember correctly about 2000ft in about 25miles, with the bulk of that being in the last 5mile climb). Anyway...as we ride, it seems to get colder...but then, starts to "warm up"? ...SWEET...I thought. Shortly before the last climb I had to ditch my riding glasses...the rain was starting to stick (20/20 hindsight...Ice up). On the climb, I thought I was toasty (although...I now don't remember really riding up the hill, hmmm). There was a rest stop at the top, yeah, we should stop and eat something. I remember having a hard time opening my Clif Bar...odd, my fingers don't want to work.
Anyway...one of the guys in my group suggested that we stop for a while and go into the visitors center that was nearby. Sounds Good! ...I now start realizing, something isn't "right". I had a hard time controlling my bike on the short little downhills (shaking to bad)...but I made it safely.
As we enter the visitors center people were looking at us like we were CRAZY...yes, we are, but still. Something else must have caught one of the ladies eye that worked there that something wasn't right. She took blankets off the shelfs (that were for sale mind you) and wrapped one around each of us...Suggested that we went into the "back room" because that was the warmest room, and brought us some free coffee.
After uncontrollable shivering/shaking/cant hold a cup of coffee for about 45 minutes, stuff starts to make sense. We must have been setting into hypothermia!!! We also find out that the temperature is now 31 degrees out. OH, Duh!!! So, after another half hour of figuring out what to do, we finally call for a ride and some warmer clothes. We get SAG'd around for a little bit...as the rain finally gives way, somehow. We get dropped off about 30 miles to the finish...and ride it in the rest of the way (we had a personal SAG, so she followed us...just in case).
Yeah, we should have figured out the hypothermia during the ride and called for a SAG earlier...but, whatever. One person did have to go to the hospital because of hypothermia...a SAG vehicle saw her and tried to convince her to get into the car, she refused. She later crashed because she couldn't stop shaking so bad (she did ride the next day). Most everybody shorted the ride to the 25 or 45 mile loop (or caught a ride with a SAG). There were a few (who were prepared) that made the full Century ride...7 riders, out of 150.
So, there's my story. Prior to the ride, and now, I call it quits when the temps reach 40-45 degrees. I'll ride in rain, doesn't bother me.
Sorry this got so long.
Originally Posted by SierraSlim .
[COLOR= #0000ff]You're a better man than I am, Jimbo. I woulda been holding cocoa by the fireplace. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif[/COLOR]
Originally Posted by Yojimbo_ .
Did my first ride of the season with snow yesterday.
Temperature was between 2C to 5C (maybe 35 F to 41 F) throughout the ride - snow came down in a little mini blizzard at one point. But I was plenty warm enough - until we stopped that is. Then it's cold for a few minutes when we restarted after a soup break.
That Canadian winter isn't far off now............
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