Cadence & Riding Cold Days

Looking for advice in improving riding with cold legs. For me - step 1 is to find the right tights.. I do much better dressing my upper body than my lower body.

But, if I'm out on a cold day, it takes my legs forever to warm up. Any additional effort (elevation, wind) and I tank, my recoveries take much longer. DH tells me I don't ride well in the cold because I "mash too large of a gear." Well, it's the same gear I would ride on a warm day in order to maintain that 18 mph pace, and if I gear down to spin faster (more friction to warm the legs?) then my speed suffers. If I try to compensate and keep the speed up - well, the cardio backing just isn't there.

I'd really like to do better - and particularly in effort to try cyclecross this year. I certainly won't be able to go far if I'm struggling with frozen lead legs.


So - tips on how to improve cadence? or gearing? or your favorite keep-the-surface-of-your-quads-warm tights?

What sort of tights are you using? I tend to stick to all fleece tights (PI thermafleece) or fleece tights with the extra weatherproof layer in the front (PI AmFib tight). Some tights I've tried on in the store don't insulate at all, they're just like extra long bike shorts. The amfib tights are really toasty.

Also, how's your circulation in general? Are your iron and thyroid levels good? Intolerance to cold can be indicative of other health problems.

How cold are we talking?

I rode all last winter, and while we definitely felt the effects of global warming here in Vermont, I rode many days in temps below 20F. I know you'll read most places that "you usually don't need more than one layer for your legs", but for me, if the high of the day is below 25 I am likely to wear two layers on my legs. I have a pair of heavy weight Craft pants that were great -- I think TE may sell them -- they are very heavy fleeced lycra with wind/waterproof panels on the quads, and they have a little extra room for layering (but still fit more like tights than like pants). If it got really cold I would layer a pair of light or midweight long underwear under them. I also had a pair of Hind Arctic pants that were good for really cold weather -- also in a cut that had a little extra room for layering. For temperatures over 30, I think I usually just wore regular tights.

I wonder if it would help you to warm up your muscles before you go out for your ride? On a trainer, or rowing, or even taking a short jog, whatever you have access to? Or just leave yourself a little extra time for warming up on your ride? For me, it did take me a little longer to warm up on cold days, both my muscles and my lungs, but once I was warmed up, I was fine -- I didn't find that I had difficulty staying warmed up. I didn't find it affected my speed, cadence or gearing significantly. Maybe it would be better for you to focus on shorter, more intense workouts (making sure, though, that you warm up well first) in cold weather, if you are having trouble staying warmed up?

Also, don't discount the importance of keeping your torso really warm for keeping your legs warm. If your core is even a little cold blood will be diverted from your extremities to your core to keep your organs warm, decreasing your performance. In really cold weather I would usually wear a lightweight long sleeve baselayer, followed by a heavyweight midlayer, followed by 1) just a fleece vest if temps were moderate 2) just a windproof jacket if the temps were colder or 3) both a fleece vest and windproof jacket in really cold weather. In REALLY cold weather I'd trade the lightweight baselayer for a midweight baselayer, keeping the rest of the system the same. The coldest day I rode started at about 4 deg and got up to a high of 10. Covering your face is really important at that temp and I had to switch from sunglasses to ski goggles because even my vented sunglasses would completely fog up at every light and then, because the air temp was below freezing, the condensation would freeze -- so I just couldn't see at all -- eek! But other than that, I was fine!

Hope this helps!!! Good luck!!! It can be really fun to ride in the winter if you can get past the psychological barriers (that's the hardest part for me anyway, because believe it or not I REALLY hate the cold).

To back up something Liza said - if you are going out to race you should always warm up, either on the course or on a trainer - you want to get yourself going to the point that you feel your legs burn at least a couple of times and try to finish your warm up 1/2 hour or so before the race starts. I find that I usually need to warm up in stages. I spin for a while just to get the body moving, then I take it up to my zone 3 for a while, back down, spin for a while, take it up to my zone 4, etc. It takes some time before I feel comfortable getting my hr up high and my legs moving, so its essential to have a good warm up in before I go out and try to race.
Cyclocross is a short time/high intensity kind of racing that makes a good warm up even more essential.

You didn't mention what kind of cadence you maintain, and I don't have anything to add to what others said about staying warm. But to build a higher cadence, ride rollers. Winter's coming anyway. :D Do cadence intervals. 1 minute at 100 rpm, 1 minute at your normal cadence... 1 minute at 110, 1 minute at whatever's comfortable... keep going until you've reached the cadence where you're bouncing all over the place and feel like you're going to come off the rollers, then pyramid back down 10 rpm at a time. And back up and down at least one more time during your workout. You'll be smoother and pedal faster in no time.

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Originally Posted by Dianyla

What sort of tights are you using?

Also, how's your circulation in general? Are your iron and thyroid levels good? Intolerance to cold can be indicative of other health problems.

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Thanks for the reccomendation - I don't know what kind of tights I have; but I was wearing capris in this instance, and as you mentioned they were just as thin as shorts, so not much benefit vs. air temperature.

How does one assess curculation? Thyroid is fine, not sure the last time iron was checked.

Liza -- How cold... well, now this is a bit embarassing as it was 50-55 F when we started out on Saturday. Not 'Real' cold weather, by any means. I know that when it dips below 60 I need to keep my ears covered, as they chill & start to hurt quickly. So I had my Ibex hat on, pulled down over the top of my ears.

I think my comfort cadence is probably between 70 & 80.. I don't have a sensor, but try to be aware of rotation and relate it to spin class. I have a perception that anything over 100rpm gets sloppy & bouncy.. you mentioned starting at 100 & increasing by 10? How high of a cadence is reasonable to work at? Or to maintain if we're setting a goal for high cadence while on the road?

Thank you for all the tips!

Most people feel the ideal cadence for road riding is around 92. Obviously it's going to be lower when you're climbing any significant hills, but you want to try to keep it over 65-70 to protect your knees (and your drivetrain). But once you're in your bottom gear and the hill's just getting steeper, you do what you can :D

When I was doing cadence intervals on rollers, I would start at 100 just because it was slightly higher than my usual cadence. I got to where I could maintain 160 pretty smooth for a minute. That was definitely "back in the day." But aim as high as you can! You can do cadence intervals on rolling hills too - once you crest the hill, don't upshift, just stay in your low gear and spin as high as you can on the descent. If you're trying to improve your cadence, definitely get a monitor. There are some pretty inexpensive ones out there - I use a Cateye Astrale 8 which was like $30 at the LBS.


PS Liza... eeeek! Before we started flying south for the winters, my toes would literally be blue from December through April, and that was just from staying in the house and working out indoors! Aren't you afraid of ice???

I used to hate exercising on the cold oklahoma mornings (but the Army gave me no options). One morning my legs almost locked up. I think it was about 15 degrees. But we were better off than the marines.

Sounds like you really need to warm up a bit more before you ride.

You have the hat, so you might want to try a neck gaiter too. The blood can cool a bit on the trip through your neck. I learned this trick in Officer Candidate School.

Try some warmer knickers. I wear my wool knickers if the temperature drops below about 65 and wear those down to the mid-40's.

On cadence.

The idea that 100 is the magic number became vogue with Miguel Indurain. He was the first person to truly dominate the tour for several years in a row. Apart from his general physiological freakiness (resting heart rate: 30), he used a very high cadence for the time. Lance Armstrong took note and started to do the same. Now, everyone does it. Spinning classes encourage it because a higher cadence is a good way to get your heart rate up quickly.

I can do 100 and once held 120 for a couple of miles just to see if I could do it, but I prefer somewhere in the 85-95 range. I bow down to OakLeaf for hitting 160. That is truly awesome.

If you can tick along happily at 18 miles an hour at 70-80 and you don't have any knee problems, you are probably ok.

For the past 3 or 4 months during our winter season down here i've spent many a mornings cycling in kind of cool conditions.(ok, 5c is cool but not cold)

THe only thing i've done differently is wear witches britches from Ground effect on the bottom and an extra jersey on the top. I've been warm and toasty :)

Cycling in coolish weather is fine! Join us nuts who do cycle at 5:30am when it's 5c, raining and windy!! :o

Happy C off to enjoy the spring sunshine :)

C

We just rode this past weekend in temps like you mentioned (50-55). I don't mind it and was happy and warm in shorts (I'm a freak), but DH was having serious issues despite wearing tights. I made him back off the pace with me and told him to spin. He does well with spinning up hills, but he likes to push bigger gears in the flats. I told him he could do that...ONCE he was warmed up. He's a southern boy, too...so to him, "warming up" was a 2-3 minute exercise. Once I got him to agree to spin for awhile at a slower overall speed (I led to make sure he couldn't mash), he was fine. I think it was a solid 20-30 minutes before he felt that he'd gotten his leg strength back.

Now he complains about how his early commute takes him longer because he's trying to spin more to warm up. I remind him that he can take an extra 10 minutes per day to get to work now if it means that he'll still be able to ride at 60! :p

Anyway, my point is to work on spinning for the first part of any ride...but particularly in those temps. Yes, your speed will suffer if you aren't real efficient with spinning, but it's worth it. Once you are truly warmed up, you can kick it into a higher gear.

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Originally Posted by Nokomis

Looking for advice in improving riding with cold legs. DH tells me I don't ride well in the cold because I "mash too large of a gear." Well, it's the same gear I would ride on a warm day in order to maintain that 18 mph pace, and if I gear down to spin faster (more friction to warm the legs?) then my speed suffers. If I try to compensate and keep the speed up - well, the cardio backing just isn't there.

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I know exactly what you are saying. I have the same problem, come winter. I know I start out the season spinning well, but I think my legs kinda "forget" to spin, spin, spin as the season winds down and by the time winter comes around, I'm mashing more than is good. Then I know it's time to concentrate on picking up my cadence, to keep the legs warm. It is difficult at first, but if you keep at it, it gets easier. It does take more cardio for me, too, but that's ok - I know I need to work on it!

As for tights, depends on the temps and how your legs deal with it. Go for full-length if you are cool in capris. Still cold? Try some poly-pro lined tights, or wool ones. There are also tights with wind-proof front panels, if you really need to keep those quads warm.

Annie

I had a cold cold cold (approx freezing temps) races this year, because collegiate races for me started in February. One was an ITT and one was a crit. Both obviously require good warmups.

For a race, that means warming up on the trainer with loads of layers on. Spin a bit, then do some intervals. Big gear intervals to wake up the large muscles. Sprint intervals to spike the heart rate and spin fast. Then just pedal away comfortably plus a few more intervals thrown in when needed for at least 30 min. 45min to an hour is better for those kinds of races. Eat and drink. Go kick butt.

For training in the winter, I'll often do at least 10 min on the trainer indoors before heading out to warm the muscles before they get shocked with the cold air. The reason for the shorter warmup is because the training ride will be longer than the average crit. I'll do pretty much back to back intervals set to some sort of loud music :D . Then, I'll add some more clothes and head out.

By the way, if you can't spin over 100rpms, you need to work on your pedal stroke and gearing. Your pedals might also have too much float. Try some spin-ups down some hills. You shouldn't be bouncing on the road bike like you do on a spin bike with a flywheel. You still need to have enough resistance under you so you aren't spinning out. My cruising cadence is often something like 103-107. It took time to get used to it. It also takes time before you can use smaller gears and go as fast as you used to in larger ones. I tend to do most of my riding in my compact small ring, especially in the fall. I can keep up with my group rides just fine.

As for gear, keeping my quads and knees supported and warm is very important to me when it gets in the 50s and below. I like fuzzy knee and leg warmers over knickers for the middle range temps. Fuzzy tights over shorts when it's cold.

Thank you for all the great tips!

I just picked up a new jacket (thank you rei clearance + 20% coupon!) and it's great for upper body. I'm doing a little better on legs, tho am still searching for the right tights. Saw some that appear to be fleecy inside & wind proof on top, may have to give those a go. Big thumbs up to smartwool socks.

Did a little bit of hill work Monday, and on the way back was able to really work on spinning & cadence - was doing much better, and for some reason I'm thinking the work on the hills helped. I don't know actual cadence, but it was definatley faster than my comfort zone, and I pushed to maintain it a bit.

This Sunday's ride looks to be 50s, rainy, and 70 miles. hoo boy!