Winter Biking Advice From A Minnesotan

[Duchess]

Streets are ice and snow-free in SE MN. Riding! WHOO HOO!!!

Oh, dear. Unexpected 6" overnight of God's white fluffy punishment to deal with. I'm glad we moved to senior housing so somebody else has to deal with the shoveling now, but I do wish it was in Florida where I've spent quite bit of time and you can bike all year long. Never getting my hubs out of this State, so can only wish he goes toes up before me, so I can get a few years in of pleasant winters.....

 

[Taylor57]

Oh, dear. Unexpected 6" overnight of God's white fluffy punishment to deal with. I'm glad we moved to senior housing so somebody else has to deal with the shoveling now, but I do wish it was in Florida where I've spent quite bit of time and you can bike all year long. Never getting my hubs out of this State, so can only wish he goes toes up before me, so I can get a few years in of pleasant winters.....

So your wish is your husband dies?

 

[tomjasz]

Never getting my hubs out of this State,

We were out of MN until we retired in 2007. Keep Florida! Too many silver heads driving like, well, blind privileged old farts. One hurricane experience living on St Croix USVI was enough for me.

Hang in there, it's almost spring!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Going back on topic.

There is a critical factor for low temp riding: the riding speed. If you accept the fact you need to ride slower on Winter, everything is fine, and good clothes will isolate you from the elements. However, e-bikes tend to ride fast. Wind chilling factor becomes critical. An example:

On yesterday's ride, I wore a single base layer of merino wool, a skiing (waterproof, windproof) jacket, Softshell bibs, heated socks, winter boots, skiing gloves, balaclava, snowboarding helmet, and goggles. The temperature was 0 C, going down to -2 C, with a moderate wind.

It was a group ride, and my buddies were moving fast. We spent 3 h 32 min riding (net) with overall 25 minutes of rests. Any of us returned home frozen to the core! All because of the wind chilling factor that becomes critical if you ride very fast.

 

[tomjasz]

0 C, going down to - 2 C

Spring in Minnesnowta. Wussies!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Spring in Minnesnowta. Wussies!

Only meaning Minnesota is not the most winter country in the world
I'd say 0 C is a joke, compared to -30 C we could have got in February!
Once, I drove my trusty car to Lublin in February 2012. The car heating system broke. I still think how I could survive...

Feb 2nd, 2012. I still wonder how comes I'm still alive and with both legs.
The more it snows
The more it goes
The more it goes
On snowing
And nobody knows
How cold my toes
How cold my toes
Are growing.

 

[California Flash]

Only meaning Minnesota is not the most winter country in the world
I'd say 0 C is a joke, compared to -30 C we could have got in February!
Once, I drove my trusty car to Lublin in February 2012. The car heating system broke. I still think how I could survive...

View attachment 116097
Feb 2nd, 2012. I still wonder how comes I'm still alive and with both legs.
The more it snows
The more it goes
The more it goes
On snowing
And nobody knows
How cold my toes
How cold my toes
Are growing.

So.....The low temperature Feb. 2022 in Lublin was 21F. Some lows Feb 2022 in Int. Falls MN was -32F, -37F, ,25F, -36F, etc., etc.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I found these pants are fantastic about keeping my legs warm. they are warm down to about 26 then they felt like regular pants at 32. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M19IY89/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[California Flash]

I found these pants are fantastic about keeping my legs warm. they are warm down to about 26 then they felt like regular pants at 32. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M19IY89/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I purchased a pair of winter cycling pants 15 years ago from a company called Aerotech Designs. They are an American company located in Pennsylvania. Nearly all of their products are made in the USA.

The pants I purchased have worn like iron. They are one of the few companies that will do minor repairs like fixing a tear or broken zipper.

They make two different pair of winter cycling pants. The original pair is made in the USA which is the pair I purchased. https://www.aerotechdesigns.com/methwicypa.html

They also sell a pair that is imported.

An excellent company to deal with.

Fifteen years service out of a pair of cycling pants is exceptional. They are a little pricey but you get what you pay for.

Highly recommended. Have ridden my bike in zero degree weather and have never been cold.

Men's Thermal Fleece Cycling Tights - Cold Weather Insulated Tights

Our Men’s Thermal Tights, Bib-Tights, and Cold weather Insulated Pants are skillfully crafted and tested to be a long-lasting and reliable cycling essential.

www.aerotechdesigns.com

 

[scottsdalecommuter]

This will be my first winter riding in Illinois after moving from Arizona, can already feel the temps dropping pretty good. Was about 40 degrees F on the way in to the office this morning and pretty brisk. The balaclava was a big help and also growing my beard out right now. I have some alpaca wool socks that are helping my feet a lot. My fingers are a bit cold with some cheap gloves so know I need to upgrade those soon and thinking about bar mitts too. Final item is goggles, I'm wearing clear safety glasses for the wind but they fog a bit if I put balacava over my mouth so need to get some goggles in the near future too. Excited to keep riding as the temps drop!

 

[Taylor57]

This will be my first winter riding in Illinois after moving from Arizona, can already feel the temps dropping pretty good. Was about 40 degrees F on the way in to the office this morning and pretty brisk. The balaclava was a big help and also growing my beard out right now. I have some alpaca wool socks that are helping my feet a lot. My fingers are a bit cold with some cheap gloves so know I need to upgrade those soon and thinking about bar mitts too. Final item is goggles, I'm wearing clear safety glasses for the wind but they fog a bit if I put balacava over my mouth so need to get some goggles in the near future too. Excited to keep riding as the temps drop!

I thought a backlava was a greek pastry?

 

[RandallS]

I'd rather ride with Baklava than a Balaclava... but with our winters here, it's usually the latter.

 

[AguassissiM]

@scottsdalecommuter

In a pinch you can always use a pair of these, I use them for work as well as for my winter bike rides. Last week my local Costco had them on special for $16 a box of 30.

 

[tomjasz]

How Hotties work, May get to hot at higher ambient temperatures. Do not put directly on skin.

IRON POWDER
Oxygen in the air reacts with this powder to yield iron oxide—rust—and heat. These hotties can reach up to 163 degrees Fahrenheit; military-grade warmers (for heating MREs) can get to upwards of 200 degrees. Manufacturers produce iron powder by either crushing iron or spraying a molten stream with water. Fun fact: We eat about 2 million pounds of iron powder each year in our favorite (fortified) breakfast cereals. Yum!

MICROPOROUS POUCH


Open the plastic packaging and air seeps in through the fabric pouch, setting off the chemistry that heats things up. More pores mean more air, so the pouch for toe warmers has more holes than the one for hands (since, you know, tight stinky snow boots have less circulation).

ACTIVATED CHARCOAL

This porous material holds the water necessary for the oxidizing reaction to occur. It's also thermally conductive, so it helps spread heat evenly. To make it, heat charcoal in the presence of an oxidizer. It expands to create millions of tiny pores between its carbon atoms, increasing the surface area to as much as 2,000 square meters per gram. A pound of activated charcoal has the same surface area as six football fields—that's a lot of crannies for storing water.


SODIUM CHLORIDE

Like in your kitchen, salt amplifies things. As a de-icer in snowy cities, salt can cause car underbellies to corrode. Here too NaCl (with an assist from H2O) is a handy catalyst that kicks the rust reaction into gear.

VERMICULITE

With a name derived from the Latin word vermiculus, little worm, this hydrated magnesium aluminum silicate expands when heated and looks like, well, worms. The result is a light, highly absorbent, chemically inert, odorless, and fire-resistant supermaterial. It's a great insulator, both here and in some building materials. Along with the activated charcoal, it helps diffuse the iron powder so the filings don't burn too quickly (and sear your skin). Herpetologists use this stuff to keep incubating reptile eggs cozy—your warm-blooded hands should be no problem.

 

[Viking1]

Excellent thread!! Lots of great information!! Skol.

 

[tomjasz]

Only meaning Minnesota is not the most winter country in the world
I'd say 0 C is a joke, compared to -30 C we could have got in February!
Once, I drove my trusty car to Lublin in February 2012. The car heating system broke. I still think how I could survive...

View attachment 116097
Feb 2nd, 2012. I still wonder how comes I'm still alive and with both legs.
The more it snows
The more it goes
The more it goes
On snowing
And nobody knows
How cold my toes
How cold my toes
Are growing.

The coldest month of the year in Warsaw is January, with an average low of 24°F (-4.4C) and high of 33°F(.05C)
The coldest month of the year in Minneapolis is also January with an average low of 10°F (-12.2C) and high of 24°F.(-4.4C)

 

[Jim1348]

I rode Friday and quickly realized that I need wind resistant clothing.

It wasn't even that cold south of Saint Paul MN that day, either! (40s Fahrenheit.)

 

[AHicks]

I spent a LOT of time riding snowmobiles all over creation in Northern Lower Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula. Average snowfall in the area we stayed was 150". Areas of the U.P. we often haunted could be double that amount (Lake Superior Coast).

We dressed to the point where riding in a heavy snowstorm was a blast, especially after dark. It was like you were in a cocoon, sealed against all of the weather's ravages. You were in a capsule moving through this all white space. We had full face helmets with electric shields to nearly guarantee no fogging, and electric hand warmers that would burn your hands if set too high. Those hand warmers could heat your whole body when things got really cold (-20f). Sleds were capable of 100+mph, but cruise speeds were closer to 40, hard play in the bumps would really warm you up quick (causing you to shed layers even if 20 below) and slow you to maybe 10-20mph.

Anyway, the reason I wrote is to verify that you can dress for ANY temp and be quite comfortable. I learned it's only a case of what it's going to take, and 1 cold ride will teach you not to skimp or try to cut corners. Frost bite is nothing to mess with. Chins and throats burn very easily/quickly.

 

[tomjasz]

I rode Friday and quickly realized that I need wind resistant clothing.

It wasn't even that cold south of Saint Paul MN that day, either! (40s Fahrenheit.)

I wear a Gortex goosedown parka in the dead of winter. A decade or two old North Face McMurdo. Windproof balaclava, snowboard helmet, goggles, and Goretex mittens. In the coldest weather, it's just a few miles and back for errands.

IMNSHO The biggest danger in winter is from cages not expecting bicycles and paying even less attention to you in the winter.

Left shoulder ARMS!

 

[RandallS]

I ride until about -12C (10F).
Multiple layers but an absolute must is a wind resistant outer layer.

At the lowest temps, I swap out my normal Fox helmet with beanie underneath + wrap sunglasses, for a K2 ski/snowboarding helmet and goggles.
Yes - a balaclava is often in the mix and so are proper ski gloves.

I will find out this winter how a Garmin 530 handles the cold. I've frozen my Samsung GS7 multiple times when I was using it on a Quadlock.
New GS22 stays in the pocket now...

Thankfully we're having a beautiful Autumn, and I haven't had to organize my winter duds yet...

But when it arrives, and it will, thankfully our city has a pretty good bike path cleaning program, so I get to stay off the streets.

Note - I have a complete second set of wheels with Ice Spiker Pros ready to go, so I can change the running gear quickly for changing conditions.
Living this close to the Canadian Rockies, we can get some pretty wild weather shifts.
I've ridden in +10C in the middle of winter - you still need to layer up as the ground is frozen by then and the wind is cold no matter what.