Winter cycling clothes

Yeah, but if a guy were to draft them for too long those simple friction burns could become 2° or 3° burns and might need skin grafts to repair.

 

Hey, guys, nice to "meet" all of you. I've got the clothing thing down. Layering with the right clothes makes a world of difference. Took my coldest ride of the year last night. Air temp about 26/27, ambient windchill about mid teens, breeze maybe 8-10 out of the NW. Beautiful clear skies. I layered up in Columbia Heatgear base layer, then a thin UA compression shirt and compression shorts, then the inner shell of my new Columbia heated jacket, a UA winter thermal hoodie, and my safety green hoodie over that. A pair of UA thermal sweats then a breathable wind proof insulated nylon pair of track pants. Along with heavy Pearl Izumi winter gloves, a wool balaclava and UA insulated ski cap under my helmet. Thick friction reducing socks, and Velcro New Balance shoes. 15 miles and facing after I got home one entire load of laundry, I stayed warm, got a little damp but well within tolerable limits. I kept the heated shell on high the entire ride except the first roughly 10 minutes. Started out on low, but found I needed high. I've had it a week, wore it four time, 3 riding, and damn if that isn't a great invention. Like riding wrapped in an electric blanket, beyond comfortable, luxurious, kind of like when the massage therapist I see for range of mobility issues puts hot towels on my back. $300 and worth every penny. I am going to order an extra set of battery packs, life is about 2 hours on high, I will need more than that for XC skiing and snowshoeing or very long rides.

 

The only cold issue I haven't solved has been eye protection. I wear a very heavy prescription with astigmatism, can't have contacts because of the strength of it. I tried in vain to find a lab locally and online that could do sports goggles in my prescription, I have a great pair of Zeal Slate ski goggles that are designed for glasses, perfect for daytime, but they cut light transmission too much for night safety. Back to the drawing board. Danny

 

Wow. Do you tend to get cold easily? With all those layers, I'd think you were riding in the Arctic.

 

Heh. I was thinking exactly the same thing. However, it's highly dependent on how hard you ride. The faster I ride the hotter I get. The extra cooling effect of the wind doesn't keep up with the extra heat I produce. Highly breathable clothing helps me with this. To keep from sweating like a pig in gear like MotownBikeBoy describes I think I'd have to keep things in L1 with periodic rests where I take some layers off. I don't wear that much even when walking outside in those temps. MotownBikeBoy, how fast did you ride with that gear?

 

Hey, guys. Actually, yes, I am on some funky meds for a couple of things, one side effect is that I am cold all of the time. Hence the layers. Also, I'm not a high speed rider by any means, I average about 14 mph now per my Specialized and Polar data computers. Just in it for exercise and pleasure, plus a heaping dose of stress relief. The more grief clients give me all day, the more I want to ride at night. Finally found the answer to not freezing to death when it's below the 60's. Danny.

 

SKYSPER long sleeve jersey are cheap. But it is only fits for fall not winter.