Yesterday
I still haven't got feeling back in my toes by lunchtime after riding in this morning!!
And I had two pairs of socks too!
Today
Two pairs of wool socks and cling wrapped the toes this morning. This did improve things from:
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my toes are so f—king cold it really hurts
-
not thawing out until lunch time
to:
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cold but just bearable
-
might be fully thawed by morning tea
I might have to pop in to the bike shop this weekend for some booties!
Interesting ride in this morning in the thick fog. I was covered in a thick layer of dew by the time I rolled into work. Hopefully the gear will be dried by home time—it's currently draped around the office, much to the joy of the rest of my team!
How do you manage on these cold mornings? Any suggestions?
Comments
I actually find that I heat up pretty quickly, as long as i start off going up hill - i ride to work in a tshirt as well. Today the ears hurt tho...
The killer for me is having a goatee. Between the fog and condensing breath, its kinda squelchy at the end of the ride.
Are you wearing cycling shoes? You might want to wear hiking boots or something like that. They're much warmer than cycling shoes. I wore hiking boots all last winter up here in Columbus, OH, USA and never had cold feet.
It's the fingertips not the toes that I find really suffer on these cold mornings. Have you tried thermal socks inside wool socks?
The temp is well in the 30's (C) here in the USA right now ;-) Perhaps you should join the ICEBIKE discussion list so we have something to talk about (most of us are in the northern hemisphere).
But to answer your question: keep the core warm and you're extremities will get more blood flow. Blood is drawn in from the extremities if your body cools too much, meaning your fingers and toes get chilled.
I wear Shimano MT-90s. They're walking boot style, with SPDs. Not had cold toes, even during last week's frosty morning...
They do fill with water in the rain though. So I have bootee covers for Melbourne's torrential downpours.
My solution to coldness... ride the singlespeed instead of the commuter... Makes me ride harder and keep the blood pumping...
I have no money left to buy clothes after the recent purchase of a MTB :(
Whoa! Those icebikers are just plain nuts!
Mind you, it must be delicious to go crunching across fields of crisp, white snow (on a still, sunny day at least).
I wear a Husky jacket on the colder days, Fritz is correct, keep the core warm and your extremities should be fine, granted its not raining or sub 0 temps. Also have to push your self for the duration of the ride, so your heart rate is up.
OK - I'm going to upgrade to some thermal socks and probably get a pair of booties too! But from these comments it seems that I should also be looking at something to keep my core warmer too. I wear a fleece top over a long sleeve jersey plus a nylon windbreaker. The windbreaker is great for the wind, but it doesn't take long for the sweat to build to uncomfortable levels. I'm a fussy bastard, I know, but any suggestions on the best ways to keep warm and comfortable without getting into a sweaty lather?