What to wear--start cold, end warm

[goldfinch]

This Saturday I am going to attempt my first metric century on a ride with about 1200 cyclists in northern Minnesota (the Tour of Lakes). The ride starts between 6 and 8 am. I should start early because I am slow. My guess is that it will be about 45 degrees at the start and maybe get to around 75 as a high, probably in the afternoon. The current forecast is for partly cloudy but who knows.

What to wear? It is such a PITA to carry things. Will my Terry tights end up being too warm? I do have knee warmers that I can take instead. I suppose I will end up with lots of stuff crammed in my jersey pockets.

Suggestions?

[Sky King]

Can I talk you into taking a bag of some sort :) We usually take a Zimbale saddlebag on metric century rides to add and subtract clothing and carry our own snacks/protein as the rest stops tend to only have fruit and power bars and I can't stomach power bars.
I vote for the knee warmers over tights. Yesterday we had similar conditions. I wore my leg warmers and my wind jacket. I ended up riding the entire way with my wind jacket on but did peel the leg warmers. The DH rode in his knickers, I was wishing I had a pair.

[OakLeaf]

Lycra tights and a light windblocking jacket can be tied around your waist in a pinch.

Arm and knee warmers can be pushed down around your wrists and ankles. (If you do that with knee warmers, it's best to roll the thigh openings a couple of times so they don't catch on stuff while you're pedaling.)

For me, lightweight FF gloves aren't too much for 70° or even 75°.

Wool socks should keep your feet as comfortable as possible over a range of temperatures.

If you're more comfortable a little over-warm than a little over-chilled, you might wear a sleeveless wool base layer, especially if your jersey has a long zipper you can open when it gets warmer.

[roadie gal]

2+ on the arm and leg warmers. I have leg warmers that go down to my ankles, not just past my knees. They fold up pretty small when I take them off. The arm warmers you can just push down to your wrists.

A light wind vest goes a long way toward keeping you warm, too. My SO has a great windbreaker that has removable arms that works great for changeable conditions. I may have to invest in one of those. (pun intended)

[ny biker]

I took the advice of an experienced tourer that I've recently started riding with and bought a handlebar bag for extra clothes when I'm expecting significant temperature changes during a ride. The specific example he gave me was a ride with start temps in the 40s but highs in the 70s. His experience was that he needed tights and extra torso layers for the start, and he couldn't fit it all in his pockets as the day warmed up and he removed layers.

That being said, the hourly forecast will be important -- how quickly will temps rise into the 50s and 60s? If it will warm up fast, leg and arm warmers could be sufficient, but if the chill will linger I would worry that the tops of my legs would be cold, and I'd need a base layer under the jersey.

This is the bag that I bought -- I actually hang it on the front of the handlebars rather than resting it on the stem as they suggest, because I don't use the cue sheet holder.

http://www.rei.com/product/825301/novara-bartop-handlebar-bag

[ZenBiker]

I just did a ride with similar temps - upper 40s to start, 60s to end. For me knickers, arm warmers, and a good windbreaker (with a light lining in the front only, to help with wind chill) worked perfectly. I was expecting 70s near the end of the ride, and if we'd gotten that warm the arm warmers and jacket would've fit in my jersey pockets. As it turned out I just unzipped the jacket and was OK. YMMV of course.

[goldfinch]

Good ideas on an extra bag. With my small frame bike I only have one frame mount water bottle. So, I added a handlebar mount. No more handlebar real estate. However, I have a very small handlebar bag from years ago I can actually mount off my seat, over my seat bag which has all my equipment, like a small pump, spare, tire irons, and cleat covers.

Otherwise, I could frame mount the pump as I have a mount on my other bike and ditch the cleat covers. That would give me a lot of room in the saddlebag.

I have no arm warmers up here, forgot them at the other house. I also have no knickers that I like. I have one nice warm pair but they are slippery and drive me nuts on longer rides. So that is out. I do have a rain jacket I really like. My wind jacket is now kind of large.

I am leaning towards knee warmers with shorts, a jersey and the rain jacket. Iffy on a base layer. I only have long sleeves. I do have a wind blocking top that I could put over my jersey and skip the jacket.

Odds are it will take quite a while to warm up. I always use wool socks.

[goldfinch]

Supplemental question: would it be risky to buy a pair of knickers now for the ride, without trying them out beyond a very short trial ride?

[shootingstar]

A handlebar bag would be handy for: knee warmers, half fingered gloves.

I find the great difference in temperature a vague headache in our area..and we are north of you in Minnesota.. Temperatures can range from 3 degrees C to 18-20 degrees C within 5 hrs. The sun is very strong and bright in our area.

I have carry/wear a light wind vest underneath my cycling jacket, long sleeved jersey. If necessary (with a strong head wind) start off with a super light, slim fleecy, under cycling jacket, that can be stuffed into front bag (mine can be).

Unless it gets humid, a long sleeve jersey suits me when temp. reaches 75F.

[nuliajuk]

What kind of bike are you riding? There are racks that mount from the seatpost only. They won't carry much weight, but could hold a rack pack with a few clothes in it. As an added bonus, this sort of rack would also have a fender-like effect to keep you from getting a wet muddy stripe up your back if it rains.

[Becky]

I'd be leaning towards knee warmers, arm warmers, and a vest. I have found that mid-40s in the spring, when it warms quickly, don't feel as cold as mid-40s in the fall or winter.

I'm used to wearing long-fingered gloves at all temps, so I'd probably wear a pair of summerweight long-fingers like I use for mountain biking.

[goldfinch]

What kind of bike are you riding? There are racks that mount from the seatpost only. They won't carry much weight, but could hold a rack pack with a few clothes in it. As an added bonus, this sort of rack would also have a fender-like effect to keep you from getting a wet muddy stripe up your back if it rains.

No time to get a seat post rack and I have questionable clearance for one because my frame is so small. I am riding a Madone with a 43cm frame. I think that I will end up clearing out my seat bag a bit and then hanging my small handlebar bag off the seat to stuff things in. It won't hold much though.


I'd be leaning towards knee warmers, arm warmers, and a vest. I have found that mid-40s in the spring, when it warms quickly, don't feel as cold as mid-40s in the fall or winter.

I'm used to wearing long-fingered gloves at all temps, so I'd probably wear a pair of summerweight long-fingers like I use for mountain biking.

Lately it has not been warming up quickly, still early in the season here. I will be using long finger gloves. I decided to order a pair of knickers online, the same brand as a pair of shorts I like from Pearl Izumi.

[Susan Otcenas]

Your situation is very common on Oregon rides. Even in warmer months, it's always cool overnight, so we often start in cool temps.

Armwarmers and a light vest are two of the most important things you can have in your wardrobe. Armwarmers can be pushed down when you aren't quite sure you're ready to remove them. Once you do, they roll up like a pair of socks and fit easily into a pocket. Vests can be had for as little as 3 ounces. These things scrunch down to something the size of an egg (seriously) and can be put into a pocket, a seat pack, or smushed into a teeny little stuffsack (or it's own pocket) then stuffed in a pocket.

If it's really going to be 75 with no chance of rain, I'll usually forgo the leg warmers and just have cool legs the first hour or so.

Susan

[goldfinch]

I guess I will have to decide at the last minute what to wear. This morning it was 37 degrees and right now it is 49 at the ride start, at 10:30 am. (I will be starting between 6 and 7 a.m.) Using the principle that the best predictor of weather is the prior day's weather, I doubt that it is going to warm up very fast. I am glad that I ordered the knickers.

For some reason I am nervous about this ride. With all the rain we got in the past two weeks I have not been riding much.

[OakLeaf]

You'll be fine. You haven't lost any fitness in two weeks, provided you haven't been sick or anything. Think of it as a taper. :) You're fit and you'll be well rested for the ride.

I've found the NWS's hourly weather graph to be very accurate a couple of days out. It's a little bit early to check for the weekend yet, but here's what they're saying for Brainerd as of now - nearly 60° by 9 a.m., partly cloudy, humidity and winds nice and low. Sounds like a perfect day for a ride to me. :) http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?w0=t&w1=td&w2=hi&w3=sfcwind&w3u=1&w4=sky&w5=pop&w6=rh&w7=thunder&w8=rain&w11u=1&pqpfhr=6&psnwhr=6&AheadHour=0&FcstType=graphical&textField1=46.35440&textField2=-94.19410&site=all&unit=0&dd=0&bw=0&AheadDay.x=62&AheadDay.y=7 Have fun!

[Jiffer]

My riding buddy and I tend to be about the same in these situations. Meaning, we wear the same layers of things, and both try to go lighter and tolerate the cold when it seems realistic.

Having said that, 45 is pretty nippy!

In that case this would likely be our ensemble: Regular cycling kit, of course. (Shorts and jersey). Arm warmers for sure. And either leg warmers or full "tights" over the shorts. (Whatever cycling shorts are made out of, those in pants form with no padding.) We both have long ones and shorter ones. In this situation, we might got for the shorter ones that go just below the knee. And we might be fine to just leave them on all day if the temp only gets to mid 70's. Typically if we wear the "pants", the hope is that they'll stay on so we don't' have to figure out what to do with them. Once or twice I have tied mine in a big knot to my tube! However, we find we typically don't get overly hot in them when the temp rises.

I did eventually start wearing leg warmers more. I didn't wear them for a long time cause they can look ridiculous on me with the elastic forcing my thigh fat to stick out in a big bulge! They are definitely more handy to pull off and stick in a pocket when necessary, though.

We also would wear a vest over our jersey. This bunches up super small to shove in a pocket.

My friend might wear full finger gloves, but I never do no matter how cold it is. I wear fingerless gloves and don't feel that full finger gloves necessarily help any. Plus, I'm always reaching for tissue and blowing my drippy nose, and can't feel the tissue with full finger gloves.

When it's in about the mid 50's is when we get brave and don't wear anything extra, except "maybe" arm warmers. That is on a long ride when we know the temp will rise (as will our body temp from riding). We find that the first ten minutes is pretty miserable, but then you don't even notice it anymore if you're riding at a good pace to warm your body.

[goldfinch]

It is 42 degrees and I am looking at my pile of clothes and have to leave in 20 minutes.

I think I am going with the shorts and leg warmers because the shorts are my most comfortable.
Jersey and jacket. Maybe the armwarmers. I'll walk outside first to see how that feels.

I guess I am off!

[smittykitty]

Have fun and give us a report when you're done.

[goldfinch]

I signed in at the start and felt that because the day was cloudless that I could get by without the leg warmers so I ditched them at the car. So even though it was only 42 degrees I was down to shorts, wool socks, full finger gloves, short sleeve jersey, arm warmers and jacket. I froze for the first six miles, I was almost shaking, and regretted ditching the leg warmers. My hands and feet were especially cold. Then I and the world around me started warming up and I was glad not to have the knee warmers.

Mile 15 or thereabouts was the first rest area. It was filled with tons of food that I did not need. I have this thing about free food. Stuff in as much as you can because you may never get to eat again! I more or less resisted. I ditched the arm warmers and put the jacket back on. I ate half a hard boiled egg, half a cup of yogurt with granola and blueberries, topped off my water, snatched a cookie for my top tube bag, and hit the road.

After riding the first 15 miles alone, I started the next section riding with a young couple. It was nice to have the company plus I ride faster with others. However, we then hit a hilly section after not too long and I got left behind to tackle the hills alone. The hills were rolling and weren't bad. But I still suck at hills. I ditched the jacket at the top of a hill and was down to shorts and a short sleeve jersey. It was probably in the 50s.

The next rest area was at mile 34. They had homemade tacos and all sorts of other food. I ate a cheese stick and a brownie and a few chips. So much for my plans to try to eat healthy on this ride! Man that brownie was good, homemade with lots of frosting! I had a hand full of blueberries and hit the road again.

The next part of the ride had two good sized hills. They weren't long, but they were steep. I was a bit worried that I would slow down so much that I couldn't clip out of my pedals. But slowly, in my easiest gear, I got to the top. I had to weave back and forth to make the steepest hill. A number of riders passed me by, but at least they were moaning and groaning as they passed!

After the two short but hard hills things flattened out but my right leg and knee gave me some grief. I took it really easy and eventually it worked it way out. There was a bit of a head wind but nothing too significant. A few people here and there passed me but I didn't see many on the road, most of the time I only saw a couple of dots of people ahead. This was on a ride with 1200 people. I think a lot of people did not start right away and waited for things to warm up a bit. There was a two hour start period.

Round about mile 45 the route I was on began to overlap with a separate shorter route. There were quite a few riders on the short route. This was advertised as a 35 mile ride for the short route, in contrast to the 68 mile long route. At this point I was rolling along pretty good and passed quite a few people who were clearly on the short ride as a more of a leisure ride. A number were really struggling. Every once in a while a group would pull over to the road side and rest and chat. There were quite a few dads on their road bikes riding with their sons on their mountain bikes. Poor kids, working hard to keep up!

The last rest area was at about mile 49-50. Again, lots and lots of food. This rest stop was quite crowded because of all the riders on the short ride. I parked my bike by a woman who had the same bike as me, a 2011 blue Madone 4.7. Her's was huge as compared to mine, it was fun to compare how they looked and to chat about how much we liked our bikes.

I ate too much. I had some beans and a half a sausage on a bun, and a brownie. But I was feeling good and there wasn't a lot of miles to go. I topped off the water and headed out

The remaining miles were gently rolling on good pavement. I passed a lot of people and lot of people passed me. About five miles from the end I followed a guy who had passed me and I upped my speed considerably for the last few miles. I had gone very slow at the start, did ok on the rolling hills, got killed on the two steep hills, tooled along on the flats, but then blasted to the end with plenty of juice in the tank. I think I could have pushed a bit harder but this was my longest ride to date, I didn't know really what the course was like (rolling hills mean such different things depending where you are and I didn't know how much was relatively flat). I am sure I would have done better if I had started later and ridden with more people, rather than doing almost the entire ride alone. But on the other hand, it is good to finish strong and feeling good. I am too old to beat myself up!

So, I finished my first metric century. 100 kilometers. (The ride was published at 68 miles, but my speedometer did not show quite that much).

Average speed 13.7mph.

[Crankin]

Sounds like you had a perfect ride. Knowing how to pace yourself is one of the advantages of our age :). I am impressed you could ride in shorts at 42 degrees. I can't stand to be cold at all, even for a few miles.
And yes, the definition of "rolling" differs so much that I assume it means big hills, but maybe not 18%.

[OakLeaf]

Sounds like a great ride. Glad you had fun and that your clothing choices worked out.