Must.ride.bicycle

[Mr. Bloom]

I think it's the potato skins, wings, and cheese sticks she ate at dinner!

[crazycanuck]

ME too.. Must. Ride. Bike...

CrazyC-cycling addict..

C

[silver]

ME too.. Must. Ride. Bike...

CrazyC-cycling addict..

C

I'm such a wimp. A month and a half ago, I would have been happy to see weather like this....now it's TOOOOOO cold!

But I did do a little catch up on running and swimming.

[makbike]

Silver I'm right there with you. It has been 4 days since I've been on my bike and I'm going crazy. I plan to ride tomorrow afternoon come h*ll or high water (neither is expected here in Shelbyville). The temps are suppose to break the 50's so I'm going to be brave and ride (hand and feet warmers will be activated). The rest of the week is hit or miss (cool and/or rain). I wish normal temperatures would return!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Heck I'd be thrilled to see temps go up to the 40's!
You guys are a bunch of wimps!

[solveig]

I hear ya. 3 days off the bike - two of which spent driving 1000 miles to retrieve a new transplanter from Michigan - and I'm READY for my Time Trial DVD tomorrow morning!

Stinking weather isn't helping. Could we wind up the snow showers for the season? Please?

[Mr. Bloom]

Heck I'd be thrilled to see temps go up to the 40's!
You guys are a bunch of wimps!

Yep! We resemble that remark

[7rider]

Heck I'd be thrilled to see temps go up to the 40's!
You guys are a bunch of wimps!

Today is my day off, and it's 37 out right now.

I'm actually considering pulling out the rollers again (like we did yesterday...oh, the 2 of us on side-by-side rollers doing Spinervals. What a sight!).

Yeah....I really want to put away the long sleeves and tights. If I can't go skiing, what's the point of cold weather???

[makbike]

Hi, my name is Marcie and I'm a weather wimp. It has been 5 days since I've riden in temperatures above 50.

I'm going to will the mercury in the thermometer to 50 today so I can at least get in 15 miles. Tomorrow is looking good. I hope to ride here at home, pack the bike and head into Louisville to join the evening club ride.

Silver, buzz on down and we can get a few miles in before the rain moves in Wednesday.

[songlady]

Heck I'd be thrilled to see temps go up to the 40's!

Amen to that! The past 4 days have been temps right around 30 with winds at 20mph gusting to 30-35! I have been absolutely miserable. As a teacher, this is my week of break and I had big cycling plans. Very disappointing so far. I hope today the winds will die down a little, I'll brave it if it's 32 and relatively calm!

[Thorn]

Yeah....a couple of weekends ago we did 100+ miles, last weekend we slugged through some sloppy wet, but outdoor riding. I thought I'd seen the last of evil Coach Troy and his Spinervals propaganda until fall. Alas, this weekend, I wimped out and slunk back to the basement...I swear that ECT had a smirk on his face Saturday as he ordered once again..."big gear, 15"

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Listen...I was truly the biggest weather wimp in the world up until a couple of years ago.
I didn't exercise at all, I was 25 pounds overweight, had no real muscles to speak of, and all fall, winter, and spring I was COLD. Cold, cold, cold.
I would pile on 3 or 4 heavy acrylic sweaters, extra cotton waffle longjohns under my jeans, triple thick crew socks, scarves, ponchos, you name it. I looked like the Michellin man, but i was.... COLD.
Then I started walking...3 miles briskly every day. That helped my circulation and heartrate a bit, and i got a few muscles and started losing the extra pounds. But I was still pretty cold. Still piled on clothes like Michelin man.

Last Fall, with the advice of my smart DH and after some additional reading and research, I realized I needed to get better clothes for what I was attempting to do. People kept telling me "There is no bad weather, only bad clothing." Could they actually be right, I wondered? Me- the total weather wimp who huddled like a cat on sunny windowsills, in front of radiators and sitting on heating vents all my life....could I possible brave the elements on my bike and not be miserably frozen? Didn't seem like something **I** could do.

I set out to get properly equipped for the winter. Real wool was the foundation element to build upon.
I put heavy wool knee socks over wool hiking socks. Thinsulate hiking boots over those. Thick wool tights to wear OVER my chamois lycra cold weather tights. Underarmor sportsbra. Thin merino wool undervest. Thin merino wool longsleeve base layer. Merino LS turtleneck to wear over the base layer & vest. Heavy wool outer zipper vest for over that. Warm stretchy inner-fuzzy polyester wind-proof jacket. Nylon windbreaker/shell on the outside. Soft cashmere gloves (a gift). Smartwool glove liners over that. Heavy windproof ski gloves over that. Smartwool helmet liner. Full balaclava over that. A second balaclava in my saddlebag just in case. Oh, and a good face cream with lanolin (more wool!).

I know what you're thinking- and YES, all this stuff cost me a small fortune. But it will last me for many years because it's all well made and wool can last for decades if you take good care of it. Wool also doesn't smell at all when you get sweaty. (unlike polyester, which for me stinks after one ride).

It takes me about ten minutes to get all layered up to go out. But once I'm set, I can go biking for 2 1/2 hours at 28 degrees F and cloudy/breezy, like yesterday! I was TOTALLY COMFORTABLE. Some call me "brave" or "tough"....but I'm not brave at all, because I'm not suffering at all- it's easy to be tough when you are actually totally comfy! The worst thing is usually that my prescription glasses get too cold on the bridge of my nose- but I can take them off for a while and still see fine.

Another key factor here is that none of these items are bulky or stiff. They move with me and they breathe when I need it. I don't look bulked up. I can peel things off as I warm up and put them in my saddlebag. I'm always amazed at how much I wind up taking off once i warm up even when it's really cold. I think 25 degrees is about my lower limit with this getup. Some women here can bike colder than that, and I suspect they have even better layering clothes. I now beleive you can be biking comfortably down to 25 with the right clothes. I guess I could go colder if I used those chemical hand/foot warmers, but I'd hate to have to keep buying those and besides, Spring is here now- don't need them over 30 degrees!

Anyway, I hope that clarifies how "tough" I really am to bike in the cold weather. Perhaps it will encourage others to get a little "braver" and experiment, if they get TOO much cabin fever (and "itchy" legs?!- whoa!!) from not biking.

[silver]

Silver I'm right there with you. It has been 4 days since I've been on my bike and I'm going crazy. I plan to ride tomorrow afternoon come h*ll or high water (neither is expected here in Shelbyville). The temps are suppose to break the 50's so I'm going to be brave and ride (hand and feet warmers will be activated). The rest of the week is hit or miss (cool and/or rain). I wish normal temperatures would return!

I ride over to ride with ya.....OK? a century and a half!

[silver]

I think it's the potato skins, wings, and cheese sticks she ate at dinner!

Ah....I can eat those things because I ride. So I NEED to ride NOW!!!!!!! I told you not to move me North!!!!!!!!!