jbuch wrote:
|| Roger Zoul wrote:
||
||| jbuch wrote:
||||| Bob Mauri wrote:
|||||
|||||| It took me about 30 minutes just to put on all of my layers! The
|||||| good news is that I wasn't cold. The bad news is that I look
|||||| like
|||||| the Pillsbury Dough Boy and can barely move with all those
|||||| clothes.
|||||| It
|||||| takes me an extra 20 minutes to ride the same distance using my
|||||| mountain bike (and the 4 layers of clothes) as opposed to my
|||||| racing bike!
||||||
|||||| Bring on the snow!
||||||
|||||
|||||
||||| Why on earth do you need so many layers?
|||||
||||| What are they?
|||||
||||| Since subscribing to the "ICEBIKE" list server, where people who
||||| live in Canada and Alaske and the Northern US States who ride
||||| regularly in the winter.....
|||||
||||| I have stopped putting on so darned many clothes because I am over
||||| dressed and if not careful will get cold from the excess sweat.
|||||
||||| Yesterday, I rode in 17 F weather in Iowa. I had on just three
||||| layers
||||| on top.... a thin CoolMAX long sleeved underwear, a midweight
||||| polyester fleece shirt and a Columbia Titanium waterproof
||||| breathable shell (no lining zipped in) with the pit zips fully
||||| OPEN.
|||||
||||| I used just one bottom layer, a windproof fleece pant that I got
||||| from Target last year on clearance for about $12 (list price about
||||| $35.00).
||||| The zips at the bottom of the legs were OPEN for ventilation. They
||||| were almost too warm.
|||||
||||| I was quite warm and at times took off my fleece cap to avoid
||||| overheating.
|||||
||||| After reading the ICEBIKE archives about what to wear for what
||||| temperatures, I realized that for the last few years, I have been
||||| overdressing for winter rides. And that has been the cause of much
||||| of my discomfort.
|||||
||||| Rarely have I ever zipped up my windbreaker on the top, because I
||||| overheat.
|||||
||||| I don't ride nuts at top speed like many proud posters here do. I
||||| go shopping for food and clothers and stuff and consider 15 miles
||||| in a
||||| day quite an accomplishment.
|||||
||||| I would recommend that you try several places for more guidlines
||||| on dressing for winter bike riding.....
|||||
||||| This is a nice graphic on what torwear for winter bike riding in
||||| Colorado, put out by the state of Colorado, Department of
||||| Transportation.
|||||
|||||
http://www.dot.state.co.us/BikePed/Maps/Weather Gear.pdf
|||||
||||| There is an ICEBIKE web page. Go there too. Tons of information.
||||| And links to the archives of the ICEBIKE list server.
|||||
|||||
http://www.icebike.com/
|||||
||||| Today it got up to almost 38F, and today I did NOT use the
||||| windproof fleece pants, as they would have been too warm. I used
||||| some very
||||| light tights (just athletic cheap ones, not bike tights) under
||||| windpants
||||| because the winds were up to 15 mph. I wore the same top
||||| components
||||| and mostly had to unbutton the fleece shirt and unzip the
||||| windproof shell. Instead of a warm fleece hat (which I had in a
||||| pocket) I used
||||| a cotton baseball cap and a fleece band over the ears when they
||||| got cold. Quite a bit of the time, I took off the gloves (I
||||| should have carried the summer gloves as spares, but forgot).
|||||
||||| I was quite warm coming home.
|||||
||||| Last year, I would have had more layers and may have sweated more.
|||||
||||| So, for heaven's sake, don't get too bundled up.
|||||
||||| I know, I used to make that mistake. But, of course, carry
||||| something
||||| to throw on to keep warm if you blow a tire and have to change it
||||| or repair it and aren't moving and pedaling to keep toasty warm.
|||||
||||| If you are too hot, slow down ( and take off your hat, unzip,..
||||| and finally remove an extra layer).
|||||
||||| If you are too cold, pedal faster to burn up more energy.
|||||
||||| If the wind penetrates your clothes, you were dumb enogh not to
||||| have used windproof layers in the system.
|||||
||||| But, get out there and keep on experimentsing and you will find
||||| that
||||| it
||||| is almost certain that you overdressed.
|||||
||||| Keep notes for a while on what the temperature and wind conditions
||||| were, what you wore and how your felt.
|||||
||||| That is such good and vital advice, I may actually do it myself.
|||||
||||| I wish I had done it years ago..... I would have figured out how
||||| badly I was overdressed.
|||||
||||| I wouldn't have believed the overdressing except for what the guys
||||| and gals in Alaska and Canada wear..... and enjoy riding on snow
||||| and ice.
|||||
||||| Jim
|||||
|||
||| Dude -- everyone is not the same. What works for you won't
||| necessarily work for someone else. The info on the sites are just
||| guidelines...people have to tweak to find what works for them. I
||| know quickly if I'm over dressed on a ride and I peal layers as a
||| result. That is a good reason to do layers in teh first place, so
||| you can peal as needed (more important on a longer ride when
||| conditions and temps can change a good bit) Also, 15 miles doesn't
||| quite do it for me. I don't even want to ride if I can just get in
||| 15 miles. I need at least 30 miles to feel as if I've done
||| something.
|||
|||
|| Roger, when you replied to the original poster, you left little room
|| for
|| the opinion that what works for you may not work for anyone
|| else......
||
|| Now, you ARE of the opinion that what works for me (and all those
|| people
|| on the ICEBIKE list from Alaska, Canada and the Northern USA) may
|| not be
|| good advice.
||
|| Think about it.
Jim....???? in my reply referred to me as in "I". That says *nothing*
about anyone else. Obviously, there are other things that work for other
people, like you and those in Alaska and Canada and Norhern USA who are (app
arently) very used to cold. But the bottom line is that one has to learn
what works for him/her when riding in the cold. People just have different
sensibilities about it, so you can't assume that all those layers that Bob
spoke of are too much....because it just depends. On a long ride with temps
creeping up as the day progresses, I do think he might have been pealing due
to overheating, depending on how high the temps got, but if the entire ride
were at 17 degrees -- that's just cold (IMO and apparently for the OP),
especially if you're moving at a good clip and there is some wind about.
Certainly, I do agree with the general advice about not overdressing. In
fact, I think any cyclist would. All you have to do is experience what it's
like to start overheating out on a ride and you're there. If you can't peal
you're going be really uncomfortable. The only real issue is what does
overdressing mean. For someone not too used to cold weather, or for someone
who doesn't like to feel cold (I know I don't like it), how to dress is
something that has to be learned through trail and error, mostly. Sure, one
can use guidelines, but that's all they are. Also, I do believe that Bob
would know if he had overdressed on this ride. Don't you agree?