How cold does it have to be to stop you?

[kfergos]

I don't ride if it's below about 10F, if I can help it. I hate that feeling of your eyes starting to freeze shut and your nostril hairs freezing together, but really the show stopper is that I can't keep my feet warm even in 3 pairs of socks + booties. Also as somebody else said, your bike doesn't actually work that well in super-cold temps unless you switch to special lube, etc., so you end up with about 2 functional gears and pedaling is really hard.

Speaking of cold feet, does anybody have good women's winter cycling shoes to recommend? The Sidi Diablos look good, but they only go down to 40, and I'm a 37. I'd rather not switch to platform pedals and boots (though boots could be useful when trudging through icy snow pushing my bike when I wimp out), but last winter was SO COLD, I think I lucked out in not getting frostbite on my toes. This winter I've vowed to find footgear that works in all conditions.

[Crankin]

My limit for road rides is around 40. Yea, I'm a wimp. Last year I did ride in the 30s a couple of times, but it was on my Jamis, going about 12 mph. One of those times there were so many pot holes/water, etc. from the melting that I almost lost it on Rt. 62 (She Fly, why does one side of that road have all of the pot holes?).
I have been mountain biking in the very low 30s, possibly 28. I use chemical toe warmers/hand warmers when it's that cold, but I would rather switch to winter sports or hike, realistically.

[TrekTheKaty]

WOW! Last year it was 45 degrees on the trails (I mastered layers, but my hands got cold). This year, I'm rockin' some new gloves, but I'm curious how the roads will be. We're hoping for a mild winter after a rough winter last year (lots of ice, remember the week-long power outages?)--however, the wooly worms are undecided (half brown, half black--1 albino!).

Guess I'll dig out those all-terrain 32" tires from my hybrid!

[obie]

Like someone said upthread, it's not the cold but the conditions - I've ridden in 1 and 2 degrees F numerous times. But then again I'm a commuter first and foremost - so any time I need to get to work or somewhere else, I'll usually ride because it's easier.

Riding for fun - I'm not sure we do a huge amount of this in anything below 25 or so, although there was one weekend where we spent a lot of time riding around in the snow! Really, I guess we're such winter sports fans that if it's that cold, we're probably out somewhere skating or xc-skiing!

I'm lucky in that my extremities tend to stay quite warm, and I don't need too much on them. The downside is that I did permanent (or at least long-term) damage to my quads a few years ago, skating in subzero (F) conditions with a wind, and not enough on my legs. So, I have wimpy quads and they need to be kept WARM once it's below 40 or 50! It's a little embarrassing, but they literally just.stop.working!