Surviving winter

Riding a bike in the winter is a different kind of fun, that's for sure. It's funny how differently people who ride bikes deal with the short daylight hours and sub-freezing to moderately cold weather. Some have the 40 degree rule where anything below 40 degrees is a no go. Some folks prefer the trainer, and stick to that and the gym throughout winter. I'm sure spending countless hours on the trainer builds some kind of mental toughness, as it seems like torture to me, but it's not going to build the all around toughness and "hardening up" that riding year round in all types of weather will give you.

Lake Hefner, one of the many snow storms of 2010, and my cyclocross bike...good times!

The first step to riding in cold weather is committing to it. I realize it's getting late in the winter season, but committing to riding in the fall is probably a better idea than say starting January 1st, as your body adjusts to the weather as it gets colder. Having the right equipment is important and can make a big difference. I'm not going to list every piece of clothing you'll need as there are tons of other sources for info on bike clothing. The nice thing with winter clothing is once you make the initial investment, the clothing lasts for several years.

The biggest mistake I see in clothing choices is wearing too much. In general, if you're comfortable when you first start your ride, you've got too much on. It takes some practice to get the right combination of clothing. The first 10 or 15 minutes should be chilly, but once you warm up, riding in cold weather feels great! I typically decide how much to wear by temperature and how hard I'm planning on riding. In general, starting around 65 degrees, I'll add knee warmers, a light base jersey, and maybe arm warmers and a vest if its cooler. From there, each 10 degrees lower, I'll add an additional layer. Below 50, it's good to cover your feet, ears, and hands.

My favorite cold weather cap with an iced up visor. A beard is nice also.....

Below 30 degrees, you'll want heavier gloves, thick neopreen booties, and a good windstopper hat with good ear coverage. Probably your neck too at this point. If you're riding slow, add more clothes. If you're riding fast or racing, you'll want to use less. Actually, most races you want to keep it as minimal as possible. If it's cold and wet, there's tons of embrocation to put on the legs that works well.

I like ski gloves for temps below 35ish. They're kind of bulky, but very effective. Anything warmer and your hands get too sweaty.



A mountain bike or a cyclocross bike works well in the harshest winter conditions. There are studded snow tires available, but I've made my own by threading sheet metal screws from the inside out of a wide tire, then cut the bead of a slightly narrower tire of the same diameter, putting it in Mr. tuffy style, then a tube, and you've got a bad ass ice tire.

Home made ice tire studs...This set up actually needs more. Cut the ends of the screw off so about 1/4" sticks out.

Fenders work well for commuting, but can clog with ice if the temps get too low.

I understand you can't ride outside exclusively during the winter, but mixing it up from doing nothing or just riding the trainer or rollers can make a big difference in you bike handling skills and general cycling enjoyment.

What I learned racing in 2010

2010 was a fun year. As a team, it was our first year to compete together, and as always, I learned a few new things here and there. I've been trying to write down all year what I thought was something worthwhile, and here is my list:

1- Racing a category 1-2 road race or crit is cut throat. It reminds me of racing A-pro in BMX. Even guys with a ton of fitness have to learn a lot in order to compete. The thing is, everybody is fast, but it's like jumping in to play chess with a bunch of master chess players. If you can survive a race, and observe how the best guys do it, you learn a lot every time. It's a fine line between being in the mix and getting spit off the back.

2- If you're used to riding/racing with alloy clincher wheels, running carbon Zipp tubulars with Vittoria tubular tires is like cheating. Being lighter and more aero is one thing. The best thing is how hard you can corner with them. There's a couple demo sets at the shop I work at( Schlegel bikes) that I've been fortunate to borrow at several races last year.

3- This is something that I should have already known, but I guess I had to find out the hard way. An 11-25 or 26 cog set is a good gear for hilly road races. An 11-26 however, is not a good gear ratio for a fast, flat pro 1-2 crit in Texas. You get gapped to easy coming out of corners and having to change your cadence from too big of a jump. An 11-21 or 11-23 is a much better choice.

4- Save energy to "power through" slow sections during cyclocross races. This can be sand, mud, or a short steep hill. This also somewhat applies to road racing. You can put a huge amount of space on someone in a short amount of time if you do it right.

5-Bunny hopping is an essential skill in cyclocross. It's also good for avoiding crashes if you have to jump up on a curb.

6- Time management is very important for training time if you have a full time job and a family. Thats good in that my wife and I had our 2nd baby last November. I haven't had much spare time to keep this blog updated, but I got a new phone that will allow me to do post race reports on the way home from races as well as maybe some more how to stuff at the shop.

The 2011 race season is right around the corner. We've added a couple more riders to our team and have got several rides in together. Should be a fun year.