Warm Wisdom for Tepid Toes & Frigid Fingers

 It feels like winter! No, weather is not climate, so I don't doubt the science of climate change, which is unfortunately strongly substantiated by weather trends, but I am happy that chilly weather is at least possible, even if my extremities aren't entirely warming to the idea. The forecast for tomorrow predicts a high of seventeen degrees Fahrenheit!

On a bike, that's (warning, shocker) cold, but happily, I'm not the only person who has experienced the mercury-substitute drop on two wheels. Happily, misery loves company? A week ago, Clarissa at Hampshire Bike Exchange was asking for winter footwear advice on behalf of her coworker, who was no longer content with his sneakers. Then Sunday, after I rode a bike to meet Brian, who has a history as a road bike racer from before he transitioned to Vermont 100 running legend, for a ridgeline run. He once again shook his head in amazement at my riding in the cold, but really, riding in the wee temperatures needn't include pain.

With a few years riding experience, augmented by a number of those years including not-owning-a-damn-car experience, I've figured out some tricks for riding in the cold. First (warning, another shocker), clothes made for cycling are good for three things primarily: 1. Aerodynamics 2. Looking cool 3. Costing a lot. None of those characteristics are particularly endearing to me, and you might note, "Keeping the rider warmer," was not on that list.

As with most insulation, dead air space is your friend, and it just happens to be achieved by the opposite of aerodynamics. So, ride a bike in the winter, but don't worry about aero. It'll only make you faster, which increases the wind chill, which you don't want. Relax, take your time, and it'll still be much faster than walking.

My $2.49 down mittens from last week's thrift store stop and the rubbers with poly/wool uppers from some roadside free pile a year or two ago. Warm, not expensive!

So, once properly bulked up for winter riding and happy at the core, winter riding is really an issue of extremes. Yes, a warm body does help tremendously with pushing heat to the limits of fingers and toes, but those limits are still the last to receive warm blood and the first to go numb. So fingers: simply, mittens work! Yes, I know they might feel awkward on brake levers, but a function finger glommed together with three others is still more effective at pulling a lever that an independent log of ice.

I do know of bar mitts, even tried them once on a friend's bike, and they work, but I'm sticking mostly to my own experience (wisdom, right?) here, so best I can offer to that was my experience about five years back when a ride north took me out of the relative development and industrial warmth of the Happy Valley. My hands were cold. Colder than just uncomfortable, they were a problem. But hey, there on the side of the road was a wind blocking mono bar mitt in the form of a discarded cardboard box! A couple pocket knife cuts, a bungee off my rack, a few minutes latter, warming hands! I really need to try that again, intentionally, at home, before I leave.

Feet, they have feelings too, or a least they still should when winter riding. Years ago, my dad learned, and told me, the plastic used for cycling shoes has two key characteristics. One, it's relatively stiff, good! Two, it's an excellent thermal conductor, really bad in winter! Clarissa's coworker's sneakers are a good start, but the next steps are: 1. Newspaper (cellulose!) insulation, 2. Boots, 3. Plastic pedals! Few things wick heat from a foot as effectively as stepping on an aluminum heatsink with a lot of convective air flow. I just swapped to plastic a couple days ago myself.

Freedom from freezing with the power of the press!

And finally, grow a beard. No no-Y chromosome excuses!