My winter biking routine is a bit different, and has been modified over the years. Under the outer layers, I normally wear whatever I'm going to be wearing during the day. My commute isn't that long anyway, so didn't want to do a whole wardrobe change just for 2-3 miles.
Normal clothes: When I had to dress semi-nice for city meetings, I would wear a turtleneck with a sweater or blazer on top. Everyday or nice pants with silk long underwear on the bottom* (see below for my women-only tip on winter cycling.) Over the street clothes, I wear an REI shell if the weather is down to about 20 degrees. If it's windy, I wear wind pants over the other bottom layers. I have a large collection of Smart Wool socks and nice boots, so those keep my feet warm, mostly. I have toe cages on my commuter bike, so I can wear various types of shoes. If it's really cold, I have neoprene booties that go on over shoes/boots. Those keep my toes toasty regardless of what shoes I wear, even street shoes. Neck gaiter because breathing cold air makes me cough. Lighter one for warmer weather, heavier one for colder. Sometimes I'll fill in the areas of my chest/neck with a scarf. Until I got my hair cut, I could wear just a lycra headband under my helmet down to about 15 degrees. I now have much less hair to keep my head warm, and find I need a full hat below 25. I should get a cover for the helmet itself. I wear glasses anyway, but need to get goggles for the really bitter days. Right now, my eyes just tear like hell, but I can still see. Gloves: I have a large collection of winter gloves for other sports, bt when it gets really cold, I have "lobster gloves," which allow you to still break and shift easily. I often wear a liner under the gloves, so I can work the lock, light, keys, etc without exposing my hands to bitter air. * For women (or very brave men): I used to wear skirts on a regular basis, and found that this actually facilitated winter biking and dressing. I wore regular "fashion" tights under the skirt for daytime use. Then a pair of winter insulated biking tights over that, and wind pants if it was really cold. Wool socks and boots on my feet, and I'd carry a pair of street shoes. When I got to my destination, it was very easy to remove the biking tights and/or wind pants from under the skirt, sometimes without even needing to duck into the restroom. It's much easier to get a pair of bike tights off from under a skirt than remove long underwear from under a pair of jeans or pants. Robbie Webber Bike Walk Madison Steering Committee www.bikewalkmadison.org Join our group on Facebook! _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
