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I love riding in cold weather. I can dress for it and ride in temperatures below freezing no problem. I ride in the cold only under two conditions:
1) No precipitation on the roads (ice or snow)
2) No winds over 10-15 mph. (Those will really add to the cold)
As a rule, I don't generally ride under 20 degrees, but if it is sunny out and there is no wind, I sometimes will. The last two winters it has been impossible to ride, with bitter cold and lots of snow. I hope this winter is different.
The only kind of "clothing" I just might be able to trust to retain some of it's insulating capabilities when wet is plastic. Either Saran wrap, or one of those full body plastic rain suits, worn right over the base layer.
Either you are being sarcastic (which I suspect) or you have a lot to learn.
The only kin foild of "clothing" I just might be able to trust to retain some of it's insulating capabilities when wet is plastic. Either Saran wrap, or one of those full body plastic rain suits, worn right over the base layer.
Have you thought about using aluminum foil? Also you could use it on those summer scorcher rides as a radiant heat barrier like in attics. Just wrap several form-fitting layers all over your body.
Badlander has about the only experience I relate to. I regularly rode my bike in winter when delivering papers in Vermont as a kid. -30F is cold, whether you are on a bike or not. If the bike gets the job done faster, then bike it is. I can't ever remember falling on ice. Falling on gravel or crushed pea granite, yes. Ice is a stable surface. If you think ahead and don't go nuts, keeping balance on it is easy.
Badlander has about the only experience I relate to. I regularly rode my bike in winter when delivering papers in Vermont as a kid. -30F is cold, whether you are on a bike or not. If the bike gets the job done faster, then bike it is. I can't ever remember falling on ice. Falling on gravel or crushed pea granite, yes. Ice is a stable surface. If you think ahead and don't go nuts, keeping balance on it is easy.
hard packed snow is a great surface for riding on. I have dumped the bike once or twice on it and it is better than landing on pavement or cement. My biggest problem with communiting on a bike in the winter is not having a warm enough coat if you needed to go walking when you were at work. People must remember that you create heat in your body when exerting yourself. I did wear face protection from the frost. I also used to walk to work for 40 minutes in the winter, dress for the weather or you will be cold.
Again, studded tires are illegal in the USA. Federal law, straight from Washington, DC. Otherwise, most stores that carry bicycles would carry studded tires. Studded tires cause rather extensive damage to streets and sidewalks as the metal studs can and will break up the asphalt/concrete surface of the pavement, and therefore anyone who rides on studded tires can and likely will face arrest for destruction of property/vandalism. In other words, only smooth and knobby tires are legal in the USA; you can only have plain rubber on your tires.
Studded tires on cars are only illegal in states with very little snow and a few others as seen by locolobos link. States that see snow for many months allow studded tires. I don't know of any nor have I heard of any regulation that prohibits studded tires on bikes.
At least 50 degrees minimum or warmer is the kind of weather I technically command if anyone is going to be out bicycling. Personally, I only ride if really it's at least 55 degrees or warmer.
That temperature is the high of a cool summer day! At that temperature Strickly shorts and a tee.
In many years, I have seen numerous bicyclists continue to go out bike riding in winter, even when it's 5 below outside with a -25 wind chill. Truthfully, it hurts me to see people doing that. To me, it's like they have become suicidal and are bent on suicide by deep freeze/hypothermia. For a couple reasons.
This winter I regularly went bicycling when the outside temp was in the single digits or low teens (Fahrenheit). I don't think it's exceptionally dangerous, as long as one knows his own limits and has the proper gear and exercises caution.
Heck, when I went to Lake Placid in January, I saw a family that was hiking down a hill with their 5-10 year old daughter when the temp was around -5 degrees F. They were all wearing two jackets and looked like they were having fun.
The next morning the temp had dropped to -23 degrees F with a wind chill around -35, and some guy was running the circumference of the lake wearing some pretty fancy gear, without a problem.
So yeah, it's a bad idea if you're ignorant to the dangers of hypothermia and frostbite and how fast they can occur at a given temperature, but if you're well aware of the dangers and are experienced with those temp ranges, then it's not that dangerous.
50 degrees is way too high of a threshold for biking. There's absolutely nothing dangerous about 30 or 35 degrees if you wear some long sleeved gear.
Here in El Paso, we don't have much of a winter so I ride year round. The wind bothers me more than the cold but if I get out early enough, <7:30am, the wind usually hasn't picked up yet.
Crazy as it sounds, during the summer, I prefer to ride during the middle of the day when it's routinely over 100. I like riding then because the trails are pretty much abandoned.
This winter I regularly went bicycling when the outside temp was in the single digits or low teens (Fahrenheit). I don't think it's exceptionally dangerous, as long as one knows his own limits and has the proper gear and exercises caution.
Heck, when I went to Lake Placid in January, I saw a family that was hiking down a hill with their 5-10 year old daughter when the temp was around -5 degrees F. They were all wearing two jackets and looked like they were having fun.
The next morning the temp had dropped to -23 degrees F with a wind chill around -35, and some guy was running the circumference of the lake wearing some pretty fancy gear, without a problem.
So yeah, it's a bad idea if you're ignorant to the dangers of hypothermia and frostbite and how fast they can occur at a given temperature, but if you're well aware of the dangers and are experienced with those temp ranges, then it's not that dangerous.
50 degrees is way too high of a threshold for biking. There's absolutely nothing dangerous about 30 or 35 degrees if you wear some long sleeved gear.
When I went to school in the pre metric days the teachers tried to force us not to go outside for recess if the temperature was below -40F. By junior high that did not work. Half the kids in my class had to go do chores outside at home on the farm feeding animals and I had a paper route that took one and half hours to do walking. The main reason we wear clothes is for protection from the elements, not to make a fashion statement. In my old age I perfer the temps to be above -25C and below +30C.
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The wind bothers me more than the cold but if I get out early enough, <7:30am, the wind usually hasn't picked up yet.
