Nanci, first of all congratulations on that ride, I've been out for over 10 hours on an offroad ride with the headwind from hell (and freezing painful feet), I know how you feel.

Secondly, regarding your shoes, are they summer shoes? Are you squeezing extra socks into them for cold riding? The reason I ask is that you mention that your toes started to warm up when you took your shoes off - this used to happen to me (on the ride above in particular - my feet took hours to warm up) as basically my boots were far too small. I used to own a pair of Shimano winter boots (not gore tex) which I bought a size up from normal as Shimano shoes are notoriously small, however it was not enough to take my winter socks as they are quite thick (Sealskins merino waterproof socks), or any socks actually they were just too tight. After an hour my feet would just freeze as the circulation was being cut off. They were not cheap boots so I persevered for a while but eventually I called it a day on them and bought another pair.

I went for the new version of the Shimano boot which is Gore Tex lined as UK winter offroad conditions are generally wet, windy, wet, muddy, wet, cold, wet (did I mention wet). I spent quite a bit of time getting the correct size which in the end was 2 sizes above my usual by UK/Euro sizing but the same as normal in US sizing! The difference is unbelievable, I now have warm feet when riding, something I never thought was possible, this is due to the fact that the boots fit with my winter socks on and also the Gore Tex in particular shielding my toes from wind.

I do have some neoprene full overshoes for commuting which are warm but on cold days I can really feel the wind through them, if I was out on the roads for over an hour at this time of year I would be wearing my gore tex boots - no question.