How cold is too cold?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I divide my winter exercise activities between fitness walking, biking, and snowshoeing- depending on the weather, snow, and road conditions.

I do find that it is the most difficult to keep warm when biking (self-made wind chill, more exposed hands and feet that can't move around enough to keep circulation going...). So, when you look at the thermometer and it's just too cold to bike....it may not be too cold at all to do a brisk walk or jog and be able to keep perfectly comfy. My hands and feet particularly stay warmer when walking in the cold than when biking.
I can be perfectly warm doing a 5 mile fitness walk in 10 F, -when I'd be totally freezing my butt off on my bike.

[kat_h]

I find that I can dress for the cold okay for shorter rides (up to 1 hour or so), but the bike doesn't like the cold. It's fine when I leave the house and the bike has been inside, but if I have to leave the bike outside for a few hours then it's hard to get it going again. The grease gets thick in the bearings. Once I get going it warms up and is fine. We've been quite lucky so far this winter, but February is sure to have some cold snaps. I'd like to keep a second bike with thinner grease and studded tires.

I stopped riding to work every day because I got tired of cars throwing gravel up into my face when they passed me. The highway gets gravelled after it snows, and I was just being hammered by the rocks. Within the city it's okay and I'll still ride to work some days, but not every day.

[kat_h]

I just came across a website with some winter riding tips - http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/bikewinter/index.htm

Some of it is obvious, like leaving extra time when commuting in the snow, but some of it is pretty good, like shift often to prevent snow from jamming up the chain. It's nice to see a city trying to encourage winter commuting.

[sundial]

So, when you look at the thermometer and it's just too cold to bike....it may not be too cold at all to do a brisk walk or jog and be able to keep perfectly comfy.

Brrrr, self-made wind chill.

I found it helps to head for the woods on my mtb on really cold days. It seems to be warmer there.

[Dogmama]

My toes freeze at 40 degrees. I've been known to put sandwich baggies on my toes before putting them in my shoes. Along with wool socks, it works pretty well. Just don't let the edges of the baggies poke out of your shoes...very tacky.

[Geonz]

LIkewise newspapers work as extra layers. Some of our local rags, they're better at that than news

[Dogmama]

LIkewise newspapers work as extra layers. Some of our local rags, they're better at that than news

Thus the term "street pajamas."

Yes, there are days that I wish I had a bird so that I could make good use out of the newspaper.

[indysteel]

Here's an interesting NYT article on exercising in the cold:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/he...tml?ref=health

Interestingly, I just had a conversation with a friend who said that her doctor has advised her against exercising in less than 50 degree weather because she apparently has allergy-induced (not exercise-induced) asthma. I'd never heard her complain of having asthma before but whatever.....The point I took from the article is that that if dry weather, not cold weather, restricts airways, then people with asthma should presumably be able to exercise in cold, damp weather. Is that true?

Temps are supposed to be below zero on Sunday and I have to admit that I intend to forego running outside.

[weathergal]

.....The point I took from the article is that that if dry weather, not cold weather, restricts airways, then people with asthma should presumably be able to exercise in cold, damp weather. Is that true?

I'm not sure about asthma, but humidity can be deceiving when it's cold. When temperatures are colder the air is able to "hold" less water vapor. Even when it's damp out, the dewpoint (one way to measure water vapor content) is low in the winter time, often in the 20s and 30s or even lower. The temperature is also lower, and thus the relative humidity is high and we can get snow, freezing drizzle, whatever. But during a sunny day in the summer, the air can "hold" more water vapor and the dewpoint and temperature will be much higher, even though the relative humidity is lower and there is no precipitation.

I've probably really mucked up that explanation, but the point is it can be deceptively dry during the winter. So maybe that's what's irritating to people who have asthma.

[kat_h]

I find dry air is easier on my asthma. Last week I had the bike out for two days and both days I needed a cup of tea for my throat afterwards, but I didn't have an asthma attack. By contrast when I was living in England or Germany, or when I've visited Vancouver in the winter, I have a lot of trouble with asthma.

[OakLeaf]

I have allergic asthma, but no one who doesn't know me well would know I have it. Asthma doesn't have to be a choking, inhaler-grabbing, land in the ER thing. It can be fairly subtle, like mine (and it's plenty, and thank goodness I don't have that severe kind).

Generally I'm much better in dry, cooler environments. That could be simply because allergens are lower (damp breeds mold and dust mites, and warm breeds pollen).

But the main thing is, any time I'm exercising I'm MUCH better, because my immune system is suppressed.

I know cold, dry weather is awful for people with EIA, but I'm really not sure the same is true for people with allergic asthma.

[indysteel]

I hope my comment about my friend's asthma wasn't seen as dismissive of asthma as a serious condition. It's just that my friend complains about a lot of ailments that I've seen zero evidence and it's made me a bit skeptical of her. The slightest twinge, ache, tickle, etc. sends her to the doctor, to bed, to the massage therapist, prevents her from exercising, etc. She's almost always "fighting" something. I've known her for about 7 years, however, and have only actually seen her truly sick a handful of times. It's actually a bit of a running joke in our circle. Even her family, which includes several doctors, chides her about it. So, when she said she had asthma after having never mentioned it before, I had to raise my eyebrow.