Dressing for Cold Weather Cycling
Dressing for cold weather cycling is a challenge. Warm weather outfitting is comparatively easy. Shorts, for sure, leaving only the top — will it be a tank or a sleeveless or short sleeved jersey?
But when the temperatures dip, choosing the right garb is much trickier. It’s no longer just a matter of knowing the temperature. Is it a sunny day, a cloudy day; is it calm or windy? And the Big Unknown: will you start out in one set of conditions only to find the weather changes during your ride?
There’s an old adage that says you should start out feeling a little under-dressed because once you warm up, you’ll be fine. I say it’s better to err on the conservative side. Start warm and peel things off if you get too warm. When the weather’s cold, you can always get colder; you can’t necessarily get warmer. If you ride fast to stay warm, you may create your own freezing wind chill in the process. Oh — pay attention to the wind direction. On a cold day, I prefer to ride out against the wind and come back with the wind.
The engineer in me likes to see concepts reduced to nice tidy equations, charts and diagrams. So, for my benefit (and hopefully for yours), here are some guidelines for dressing in a variety of conditions. This image represents wind and sky conditions at four different temperatures. The letters in the image correspond to my suggestions of what to wear.
Condition A (50 degrees, full sun, no wind)
Lightweight tights, short sleeve jersey, long sleeve base layer, short-fingered gloves.
Condition B (50 degrees, overcast, 20 mph wind)
Lightweight tights, short sleeve jersey, long sleeve base layer, windbreaker, short-fingered gloves.
Condition C (40 degrees, full sun, no wind)
Heavyweight tights, lightweight long sleeve jersey, short sleeve base layer, windbreaker, long-fingered windblock gloves, wool socks.
Condition D (40 degrees, overcast, 20 mph wind)
Heavyweight tights, lightweight long sleeve jersey, long sleeve base layer, thermal windbreaker, long-fingered windblock gloves, wool socks.
Condition E (30 degrees, full sun, no wind)
Heavyweight tights, thermal long sleeve jersey, long sleeve base layer, thermal windbreaker, long-fingered thermal gloves, wool socks, shoe booties.
Condition F (30 degrees, overcast, 20 mph wind)
Heavyweight windblock tights, thermal long sleeve jersey, long sleeve base layer, thermal windbreaker, helmet beanie, long-fingered thermal gloves, wool socks, shoe booties.
Condition G (20 degrees, full sun, no wind)
Heavyweight windblock tights, thermal long sleeve jersey, long sleeve base layer, thermal vest, thermal windbreaker, helmet beanie, long-fingered thermal gloves, wool socks, shoe booties.
Condition H (20 degrees, overcast, 20 mph wind)
Heavyweight windblock tights, thermal long sleeve jersey, long sleeve base layer, thermal vest, thermal windbreaker, balaclava, long-fingered thermal gloves, wool socks, shoe booties. (Better yet, stay inside and curl up with a good book!)