Winter Riding Thread (December-February) Outside and Inside

[shootingstar]

I've just been doing short rides in Vancouver...6-20 km. 3-5 degrees C with sun shining to melt some ice and frost. The local mountains are dusted with snow..enough for the skiers and snowboarders. Unfortunately we have our heavy winter clothing and boots in another province.(even if we could rent snowshoes). But hope to do some snowshoeing in the mountains in a few weeks.

[azfiddle]

We've had some cold days for Tucson with highs in the 40's but mostly just cold mornings. Yesterday we rode 50 miles, mostly in short sleeved jerseys, starting around noon - my son joined us for 44 miles - we added 6 miles riding to and from his house. We stayed on the bike path and saw a lot of folks doing the same. Today I'm finally heading out.... 3 pm!

[ny biker]

So, I rode less than 1900 miles last year. I guess that's okay given the fact that I had three colds that kept me off the bike and were followed by relatively short rides as I tried to get back to a decent level of fitness. And then there were the two metrics that were rained out in September and October -- I would have managed 2000 miles if the weather had been dry on those days. Oh well, moving on.

I had thought I might get in one last post-work hill ride for 2015 after returning from my Christmas trip to NY, but that did not happen as the weather was not great and I was tired from driving back late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning. Then I considered doing a Jan 1 ride around the Mall in DC with friends, but decided I would be better off sleeping late and unpacking from my trip. So my first ride of the new year was yesterday, a 33-miler that I led for the bike club. I was worried that it would be cold, but we lucked out with lots of sunshine and not much wind. It even ended up a few degrees warmer than expected, in the high 40s. We rode through the area that John Wilkes Booth escaped to after shooting President Lincoln, then stopped at a church that was founded in 1641 for our break. The church is on a hill overlooking a river, very scenic. Usually we approach it by riding up the hill, which is steep. But we came from the other direction and went down the hill, which allowed us to get a good look at the view.

Genuine winter weather is finally on its way and will keep us cold this week, but as of now it looks like it will only last for a few days. So I'm planning to dust off the indoor trainer instead of doing the weekly hill ride in a few days. But I'm hoping I'll be able to ride outside again next weekend.

[Crankin]

My last outdoor ride of the year was on Xmas. I ended up with 2,850 miles, which is Ok.
It hasn't been too freezing out (35-40), but there's been wind and I always look twice at how the snow is melting and refreezing on the sides of the road. I've seen some riders, out, but i am just scared enough of black ice, to not ride. If I had a mountain bike or fat bike, I'd feel safer.
I went to spin class this morning and it was a good work out. I've been going on and off since December. Felt a little bad, since the temperature was 38 on the way home, but there are really big gusts of wind. I did a trail run yesterday, just to get outside.
It is going to be frigid for the next 2 days, so it's a moot point.

[rebeccaC]

Working this weekend so I took today off and rode home from working yesterday in Oxnard. Had a tail wind most of pacific coast highway which made up for it being in the high 50’s. Saw more cyclists than usual especially for a weekday. I was meeting someone for lunch in Malibu at my favorite Japanese restaurant so I also had a great lunch of tai sweet shiso with crispy shiitake and a warm bowl of miso and tofu while we sat on the restaurants balcony overlooking the ocean. I then met a woman I know and her friend who had just come down out of the sm mountains and we rode back to santa monica together. 58 good miles.



View while stopped on pch to drink some water and stretch

[Blueberry]

Rebecca- what a lovely photo!

I did a bike-bus commute twice this week - once with my Straggler and once with my Brompton. Trying to work out getting comfortable in cold temperatures - particularly on the big downhill on my way home. My core gets too warm - but my feet and head (even with a skull cap) freeze. Hands freeze for half the ride and then overheat. Still trying out different combos. We have one morning this week that is supposed to be about 20.

[lph]

I bought pogies!! And they are awesome. An hours commute at -10 C (14F) - toasty warm fingers. Same thing on the way home, in fact my hands were sweaty wearing just skinny little XC ski gloves. The best thing for winter biking since Lake shoes. And even sweaty hands weren't a problem because there's so much more warm/temperate air around them to gradually dry them off. Amazing.

Blueberry - at -14F I need both a windproof skull cap and a thin balaclava under my helmet, and I need to put tape over the big air ducts in front.