Winter Riding

Invariably when someone finds out I no longer drive a car but instead ride my bike everywhere I go, they ask me, “What do you do in winter?” Simple. I ride my bike.

Before I even bought my bike, I knew that I wanted to ride it year round, day and evening, in all kinds of weather. I wanted to replace my car with it. I wasn’t really interested in just cycling on warm sunshiny days. Warm sunshiny days are nice, sure, and I’m happy to have them when they come my way, but there are a lot more days that are overcast or rainy or not even daytime during commute times. There’s also snow, ice, wind and fog. Well, yeah. That’s life on Earth. We have weather. It’s just a fact of life.

I think often when people ask me what I do in winter, they’re not thinking of winter as it truly is. They have these images in their heads of massive snowfalls, but the truth is that here in Ann Arbor, we don’t really get that much snow. It usually goes several days or even weeks at a time with no snowfall at all or with just flurries. It usually snows less than an inch in a day when it does snow, and that just isn’t any trouble at all. It usually blows away or melts away within a few days. It’s only if we get more than 3 inches in a day that riding in it is a pain, but it just doesn’t happen that frequently here.

Occasionally we do get a heavy snowfall (more than 6 inches). The main roads are cleared right away, but the secondary roads can take a few days, and that can be a problem. Sometimes the problem isn’t riding through the snow, but that cars have already driven through the snow and the tires have made ruts. If there are lots of ruts criss-crossing each other it’s hard to ride there. Last winter I had to alter my route for a few days until a street I usually take was finally plowed. It wasn’t that I couldn’t ride down the usual street; it was just that I had to go so slow, it was adding way too much time to my commute.

I do have the option of taking the bus to work as a backup plan, but I didn’t do it once all last winter. I did it twice the previous winter when we had a huge ice storm (and most motorists didn’t come to work!). This winter we’ve had some heavy snowfalls, though it’s just been a strange coincidence that most of them occurred when I was on vacation or out sick. There were one or two days in January that I might have taken the bus had I been going to work. On the other hand, riding home as the snow was falling, catching snowflakes on my tongue at the stoplights, I definitely felt like I was playing!

“Aren’t you cold?”

People ask me, “Aren’t you cold riding in the winter?” I’m actually warmer riding my bike in sub-freezing temperatures than I am sitting inside at my computer being sedentary. I dress for the ride, of course, but I generate a lot of heat while riding. I wear very different clothing for cycling than if I’m going for a walk or if I’m going for a ride with someone in their car. For cycling I wear my Marmot Precip jacket (just a thin shell) over a fleece jacket, while for the other activities I wear a heavy parka. If I wore the parka cycling I’d sweat to death, and if I wore just the shell and fleece while not generating a lot of body heat, I’d freeze. But I have to wear much warmer gloves while cycling.

I’m not surprised when non-cyclists don’t understand how much heat I generate. I’m surprised though by cyclists who think cycling is a seasonal activity, who think the bike is something to be put away when the temperature drops down to 50°F. There are these things called jackets. And not all gloves are the half-finger variety -- some have full-length fingers, designed to keep your hands warm! Despite my sarcasm, my point is, if you enjoy cycling, why would you be willing to give it up for half the year when doing so is completely unnecessary?

“What do I need?”

If you cycle every day and just don’t stop in the fall, you can keep riding all through the winter. You will just need to get some different clothing and equipment for different temperatures and conditions. You will almost certainly be riding in the dark at some point. See my article The Queen of Conspicuity.

If you get ice where you live, I highly recommend studded tires. If you ride over a patch of ice on the pavement (and ice is often invisible), you’re much less likely to fall with studded tires. Falling hurts. There are a couple of different brands. Get Nokians. They’ll last forever, even riding on pavement. I’ve heard bad things about the other brands. When you put the studded tires on, you’ll notice an increase in rolling resistance. It’s a bit disconcerting at first. After a few days though you’ll probably be used to it and won’t even notice it. The great thing is when you switch back to your regular tires in the spring -- you’ll feel like you’re flying!

Some people get a second set of wheels and switch back and forth between the studded tires and their regular tires throughout the winter depending on the weather. This seems like a huge bother to me, and also like asking for trouble. Many times in the morning it doesn’t look like there will be ice that day, but the weather will do whatever it wants. There’s too high a chance of not having your studded tires when you need them. Like I said, falling hurts. Also, by constantly switching, you don’t just adapt to the increased rolling resistance. I think it’s much easier and safer to just leave them on the entire winter, and of course it’s cheaper too.

I can’t tell you what clothing to wear at what temperature because that’s different for everybody. People’s metabolisms vary incredibly. Gloves that are warm enough for one person at -5°F aren’t warm enough for someone else at 20°F. My own metabolism changed drastically when I lost weight from cycling and is still changing. I have to dress much more warmly than I used to, and I had to refigure what to wear at what temperature. I can give some general guidelines though and tell you what works for me.

First, don’t expect one pair of gloves to work at all temperatures. It’s just not realistic. I wear my summer cycling gloves down to about 55°F, then I switch to a pair of windblocker fleece gloves with grippy palms. For me, those are only warm enough down to about 40-45°F. Then I switch to a pair of Pearl Izumi lobster gloves. Because I seem to have freakishly cold hands, I need to add wool glove liners at about 30°F, and at about 20°F, my hands are cold yet again, so I knit angora glove liners. Angora is 7-8 times warmer than wool. The angora glove liners have kept my hands warm down to 5°F (the coldest it’s been so far since I finished them); my hands still get cold after the first half mile and are cold for about a mile, but then they warm up and are toasty. Most people will not need to go to these extremes; as I said, I have freakishly cold hands. But I expect to be riding even when it’s -10°F (about the coldest it gets here). You probably will want to have one pair of gloves for cool weather, another for cold weather, and then a pair of glove liners to add when it’s exceptionally cold. Make sure your gloves are really loose so even with the glove liners they’re still loose. You don’t want tight gloves!

You probably already have a pair of rain pants. They’re also useful as snow pants and wind pants. When it’s really cold they’re good as an extra layer. Not that they’re that warm by themselves, but they’re like a windbreaker for your legs. They also keep your pants clean and dry. Even if it’s not raining or snowing, often the road is wet. Since it’s on the road, it’s not just water. It’s filthy. And when cars drive past you, they’ll splatter it all over you. Snow and slush on the road quickly turn to “car snot.” You don’t want that on your clothes. Rain pants are your friend.

I find when it gets down to about 50°F riding in the cold air makes my ears hurt, so I bought a pair of Dog-Earz, triangular pieces of fabric that attach to my helmet straps with Velcro. They’re sort of like earmuffs, except they’re not a separate thing; I can just leave them attached to my helmet. I put on my helmet and that’s that. Warm ears. I really like them.

I find that as long as my ears are warm, my helmet keeps my head warm enough down to about 26°F or so, though it varies. If I’m riding on a sunny day, my head will still be warm down to 23°F, but when it’s overcast or dark and it’s windy, my head could be cold at 32°F. At some point I need to add a balaclava to keep my head warm. Not just the top of my head, but my face too. But there’s another reason I have a balaclava. I have asthma. Fortunately it’s mild, and I’ve been able to manage it, but there’s no denying it’s there.

One of the most common forms of asthma is “exercise-induced asthma.” For many people who have asthma, the only trigger they have is exercise, especially in cold air. I have other triggers as well, but this is definitely one of them for me. Well, there are Olympic athletes with asthma, so I’m not going to let it stop me. I’ve learned to manage it. If it’s 40°F or colder, I use my inhaler (albuterol) about 5 minutes before I ride. That’s incredibly important. If I ever ride in the cold without using it first, I’m reminded how important it is to use the inhaler! I made that mistake at the beginning of the season, before it was a habit to use the inhaler before every ride (the beginning of the season is always the hardest because sometimes it’s below 40°F, and sometimes it isn’t. Once it always is, it’s easy to remember). Halfway home I was wheezing. By the time I got home I couldn’t stop coughing. I used the inhaler once and before I could use it the second time I coughed up so much fluid I was gagging. I was tired for days. I don’t think I’ll forget again this winter.

When it gets down to about 23°F I wear the balaclava so it covers my mouth. I tend to breathe through my mouth when I ride, so covering my mouth with the balaclava warms the air before it enters my lungs. I don’t cover my nose with it because if I do then I don’t get enough air and I end up gasping. I guess I must breathe through both my nose and my mouth. I know if I try to ride with my mouth closed, though, it takes a conscious effort, and as soon as I stop thinking about it, I end up with my mouth open again. I just don’t get enough air if I breathe through my nose only.

During my first two winters, when it got even colder, about 17°F or so, I added my Seirus Neofleece combo scarf over the balaclava. This covers my nose, but there is a large hole at the end of my nose so it’s easy to breathe through. There are several small holes in front of my mouth so it’s easy to breathe through my mouth, yet it still warms the air. It wraps around my head and attaches to itself in back with Velcro, so it’s easy to get on and off. It comes down to cover my neck as well as coming up high to cover my cheeks, and it’s very soft. My metabolism continues to change apparently, though, and my face is warmer than it used to be. I put it on a few times this year when it was below 17°F, and after about a mile I yanked it off because my face was too hot. Bodies are complicated.

I found a fleece neck gaiter was a bit more versatile since I could start with it pulled up over my nose, then pull it down so it was just covering my mouth, then pull it down more so it was just keeping my chin warm. I don’t even bother putting it on though unless it’s 10°F or below.

One problem many cyclists have in winter is keeping their feet warm, and I’m no exception. That’s another part of me that used to be warmer, but since I lost weight, my feet are colder than they used to be. I have figured out a few tricks though, and there are some general guidelines that apply to everyone. The number one rule is don’t wear tight shoes. If you cut off your circulation, you’re a goner. Leave lots of room for your toes to wiggle, and remember that air is an insulator. Since I’m a knitter and spinner, I wear thick handknit wool or wool/angora socks all winter (worsted weight yarn knit on size 1 needles, so they’re warm and fairly windproof), but after my metabolism changed, even those weren’t warm enough anymore. Last winter, the first winter I was so cold, I tried wool sock liners, but my feet were still freezing. This year it occurred to me that instead of sock liners, I could just wear a second pair of socks! So inside my regular socks, I’m wearing short wool hiking socks that just come up to my ankle (so the second layer doesn’t add a lot of bulk on my leg). It’s helped quite a bit, though when it’s below 20°F my feet are still freezing. I just finished knitting angora insoles with toe covers to wear inside my boots, only to learn the boots I was going to wear them with weren’t as roomy as anticipated, so I’m exchanging them for a larger size. Many people recommend chemical foot warmers and hand warmers, but I’m reluctant to use something that can only be used for a few hours and then heads for the landfill. I would much rather come up with an environmentally friendly solution. That is, after all, why I started riding a bike.

As far as other clothing, underneath all the outer layers, I just wear my regular clothing, but what my regular clothing is has changed since I started cycling. I no longer buy cotton shirts. Even riding in winter, even when it’s cold, when I ride I sweat. Cotton gets wet and stays wet for hours. CoolMax and fleece dry very quickly. I dress in layers, often wearing two shirts at a time (a long-sleeved coolMax T-shirt under a fleece pullover) since I’m so much colder than I used to be. I wear fleece tights under my jeans. If you’re not as cold as me, you wouldn’t need to wear all these layers. I wear all this stuff all winter, even sitting around inside (once I’m inside I add a wool/angora sweater to boot), so obviously people vary. But it’s pretty well agreed upon that cotton is bad. My jeans are the only cotton I wear anymore.

Slow Down

Most of the time the roads are clear and you can ride just as fast as you normally do. But when it’s icy, snowy, or slushy, don’t even think about it. You can ride safely, but slow down. Really pay attention to what you’re doing. Remember that friction is your friend, and there isn’t as much of it as there normally is. Allow a lot of distance for braking. Don’t try any sudden stops. Pump the brakes gently. Be very careful when going around corners. You want to stay as upright as possible, so slow way down before you come to your turn.

Traffic lanes may be narrower if there’s a bunch of snow along the edge of the road. Don’t be afraid to take the lane if you have to. You definitely don’t want motorists trying to squeeze by you in the same lane when there isn’t room to do so, especially when the road is slippery. You want more space than usual, not less.

When the weather is bad, allow extra time to get where you’re going. Accept that it will take you longer than usual. That’s ok. Think of it this way: it’s more time cycling.

You can ride your bike all year round. It’s possible there might be a few days every few years when you can’t ride because of the weather, but if those are days motorists don’t even dare to venture out, then why should anyone stop riding a bike just because it’s winter? Go out and have fun.

Resources

Icebike website -- Tips for winter riding, product reviews, stories, photos and more.

Chicago Bike Winter -- More tips for winter riding, plus a schedule of events for Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison

“Tips for Cold Weather Commuting” (PDF file) -- Toronto Bicycle User Group Network’s 2-sided 8½" x 14" brochure covering winter clothing, riding and maintenance.

Join the Icebike List where you can ask every dumb question that you can possibly think of and friendly people will give you helpful answers. They might contradict each other, of course, but you can ask more questions until you figure out which answer is likely to work for you. Ultimately you just have to get out there and ride.