English
I’ve always been a believer that the weather can never be too bad and that no matter how wet, cold, windy or a combo of them all, you can get outside and ride; so long as you have the right clothes.
The cold snap has hit pretty hard recently, and living in rural Wales it’s probably colder than most places. When I got up this morning the temperature was -5, so I gave it until midday for the temperature to rise… -3. Today certainly put my theory of riding in all temperatures to the test, as to my knowledge this is the coldest that I’ve started a ride in.
I’ll admit that I wasn’t totally convinced about going out, if I had the option of a turbo trainer I’d probably have taken it because its not just the cold to deal with, but the chance of ice too. Only the major roads get treated here, so I’d have to stick to them if I wanted to stay upright which would mean dealing with lots of traffic.
The most important part about today was working out what to wear to stay warm for just over 2 hours on the bike, so I decided on the following, from head to toe:
helmet, dhb hunston skull cap, dhb buff, dhb Earnley seamless base layer, dhb Finchdean windproof jersey (more on this below), dhb windproof gloves, dhb Merston bibtight, 2 pairs of dhb Merston socks, normal MTB shoes and dhb windproof overshoes.
And guess what, I didn’t get cold at all! This is pretty much my standard “cold, but not wet” gear that I wear from anything from 10 degrees down to the temperatures today, just removing a few items when its warmer.
One of the newest items of clothing I have has immediately jumped in as my favourite is the dhb Finchdean windproof, it is absolutely brilliant! I’ve worn it in all weathers and all temperatures and I’ve never got too hot or too cold. It even kept me dry when I was caught out by an impromptu shower. It rocks!
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Sounds like a chilly ride, Matt, good effort! I have the opposite problem here! Keep up the good work, it’ll be worth it come race season! EK
Mountain biking in snowy weather is uber cool! Most people are hibernating so the trails are empty. Combined with ground that is frozen solid it’s often the best time of the year to get off-roading!
Though, as you say, it’s the opposite if you have to go on the road – more cars and poor(er) driving standards.
Good work Matt – temperatures in Wales sound worse than in the Dales. Medals are won in the winter, they’re simply collected in summer!
coldest this winter so far was leaving pitlochry car park at 10.15 am the temperature was -7 over the hills we went,six hours we rode for,apart from the snow and ice our biggest problems were a frozen freehub (fixed with a call of nature) and the water freezing in our camelbacks,as long as you kept moving it was fine.