[Closed] riding getting colder

I did manage to skip out of chunks of winter a bit, you know winter is good, it's good for the soul, it's good for the body, it's good for the mind. It makes you appreciate the average summer day a little more.

As usual I was too busy this summer to ride and back on it now summer has ended. Mud for me

I agree with the “wrong clothes” thing, but frankly Jan and Feb are completely shit, I’m half tempted to take a few weeks off next year, strip my bike for a proper bit of TLC and find something indoor to do.

I reckon illl rebuild the singlespeed for winter. I have legs to find.

For winter I need a new jacket and a quick way to wash the bike before it gets into the flat, bearings are bearings and fun is fun 😉

great shout peej. indoor

what about indoor Golf... with beers. !?   in a big warehouse, couple of short holes on fake grassy knolls, actually that's a great idea, I'm off to dragon's den.

Are you back in the Uk for good now Mike, or are you escaping the winter this year?

But winter means cyclo cross! Can’t wait personally 👹 Usually by March I’m getting sick of it all though.

Are you back in the Uk for good now Mike, or are you escaping the winter this year?

I'll let you know when the euro million balls drop 😉

@P-jay - I think November's worse: crap weather and you still have shorter days to "look forward" to. At least in Jan and Feb things are brightening up.

Wouldn't know, been full of a head cold since Wednesday! 😡

I now seem to get a weird kind of double vision/blurriness/disconnect in being able to process what my eyes are seeing when I get really cold which leaves me pretty useless for a while. I am not looking forward to this winter! May have to become a fair weather biker...

Yeah, but what about those crystal clear blue sky days that are icy cold and beautifully dry? I know the only happen once in a blue moon but when they do...love it!

I've finally discovered long sleeve compression baselayers, brilliant for riding in all but the worst weather, great.

I run hot anyway, so am very rarely in need of a jacket.

I got an Assos £330 winter jacket for £130 at their London shop. Roll on winter.

Had a glorious ride on Wednesday evening but was definitely on the chilly side. I checked the Garmin on return and for most of the ride the air temp was a steady 5 degrees. No wonder it felt a bit cold!

@P-jay – I think November’s worse: crap weather and you still have shorter days to “look forward” to. At least in Jan and Feb things are brightening up.

Yeah I get where you’re coming from. I tell my kids the best thing about Cmas is that the days start getting a bit longer about the same time.

Generally though the really shit sub-zero, pissing down, knee deep in mud rides don’t arrive till Jan.

Ah **** it, indoor golf sounds worse than normal golf. New base layer and some new winter gloves and hope for crisp frosty mornings and frozen trails.

I don't mind it cold, just not wet and horrible. I do love a nice crisp winter day. Winter will mean trail centres for me as my local riding is impossible in winter. With the advent of all weather trail centres, merino wool base layers and decent waterproofs there's no reason not to ride all year.

This is the best time of year for riding- not too cold, not too wet and most importantly not too hot. You can always put on a warmer top or gloves but you can't do anything about it being hot as balls.

SS FTW. And trail running.

Mostly I don't mind riding in whatever the weather. But constant slop from Dec to March (or in the case of this last year, early May) gets a bit tedious at times. I even did some road riding this year to escape the mud.

Indoor golf Jekkyl?

here you go:

https://westgateoxford.co.uk/shops/junkyard-golf-club

Cold is doable, wet slop having to pedal downhill us not. No matter what clothing you wear.

Not looking forwards to the Coldness, the Ice and the Snow.

As for the Mud ? It's already here! At least in the North West, it's constant rain since early August. A dry 2nd half to the Summer it certainly has not been.

One good thing about Winter, it's a good excuse to take a couple of mountain biking trips to Spain. During the other seasons I find it hard to convince myself its worth going abroad, because the weather in the UK isn't that cold for riding, but in the Winter, I don't need any convincing.

I tend to mix the Biking with a bit of Hiking in Winter, as cold weather seems much less of an issue with Hiking as it does with Mountain Biking.

To make it interesting, I will Hike trails that I don't bike on, otherwise it's boring as hell (like seeing the same old stuff but in slow motion and with no chance of crashing!). Plus there's some great trails that are only accessible by foot, with much more techy terrain.

Combine this with a few mountain biking trips abroad and there's probably enough to keep things interesting through Winter. It must be said I still get more than sick of it by the end of it though and more than glad when its over.

I don't bother with turbo training, zwift, street running, road biking, etc which I've seen a lot of mountain bikers start doing when Winter comes.

<div class="bbp-reply-author">TheBrick
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Cold is doable, wet slop having to pedal downhill us not.

You need steeper downhills

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I think November’s worse: crap weather and you still have shorter days to “look forward” to. At least in Jan and Feb things are brightening up.

I wouldn't say November is the worst because the next 4 months that follow it are (on average) colder

I like the cold days, but proper cold, frosty and hard.... The rest... i'm fairly 'meh' about though. Once it gets horrific, the Zwift miles go up.

the best thing about summer is the ability to nip out for a quick spin whenever the opportunity presents itself - you get home not being covered in shit, you dont have to wash the bike and you dont have a pile of sodden slimey kit to deal with... I had an hour or so or sunday, saw a break in the rain and went for it! spent much of the ride on my arse and spent longer cleaning up than i did riding... also its still too warm for waterproofs!! had to ditch my jacket half way up the first climb!

ill happily take it tho, as long as we can have a repeat of the April - July season we had this year!

I believe rule #9 applies as of course does rule #5.

We're having a baby in January. I feel like I've timed that pretty well.

also its still too warm for waterproofs!! had to ditch my jacket half way up the first climb!

Yep, as I said, LS compression baselayer, with a tech tee on top (don't want to look a fud!) is perfect for this mild, wet weather. Was perfect for yesterdays ride through scotch mist up on the moors.

Off to Colorado for a month's riding on Thursday

X

I like the cold, sorry. I've bought myself a couple of things ready for my winter commuting season

I put my rigid SS MTB away earlier this year, not sure if I'll bring it out for the muddy winter or ride my Solaris which is currently in rigid form (but I also have suss forks for)

I have no shame and run mudguards, helps with the mud and the wet. My fun riding is usually at night so I always have to carry lights. The wet is yuck though, no getting away from that. But that just comes with the territory I suppose

Too much sand and too hot this summer (made worse if you have those earlier Guide brake lever pistons that seize up when hot).

I'm liking a bit of damp. Everything running much better and the edge taken off the warm (it's still fairly warm down south though anyway).

First bit of proper mud yesterday since winter doing Brecon Beast, and with riding in a cloud it reminded me of years gone by when I'd ride in that kind of weather regardless as otherwise wouldn't be riding, but still fun. I kind of like a damp day in the hills.

Bring on winter. Preferably with some snow.

Unless you ride roads, in which case cold and wet is no fun. Try the mud instead (I don't get some of my riding buddies that switch to road in the winter. Okay you've got to clean the bike and stick clothes in the wash, but it's far less miserable and just a laugh sliding about in mud, than riding in a constant spray and getting splashed by traffic).

I've rigid hub geared bike that's brilliant in the winter, use it to commute off road and it barely needs anything doing to it ever. The problem is though you still have to deal with layers of wet muddy clothing twice a day and it's that I find a real drag. Did a lot more running last winter and the road bike will still be going out on Sunday's in anything but icy conditions.

In the SE the problem with winter isnt the cold or dark or ice, its the combination of rain, mud, chalk, flint.

If it could some how magically stay dry over winter it would be fine.

I'm in SE (very edge of North London) and we don't have chalk or flint really, but we do have a lot of clay, a lot. In the right conditions I can stand my bike up vertically on its own

I went for a ride on friday night, granted it was with a mate so we do a lot of sitting down and chatting, it was the first time since the earlier this year I've needed by insulated gilet

I really enjoy a cold crisp frosty morning ride, the odd mudfest and I had some great snowy rides last winter. But as a daily bike commuter, I can honestly say my fine array of winter bike clothes offers me little joy when I'm dragging my grimey bike out into a freezing howling gale at 04:30am, I'm generally just grateful if they have had enough time to dry, which on a late/ early shift turnaround is not guaranteed. I wish there was an aspirational meme that could chase away my dislike of the dark month's, but to be honest this summer has been such a buzz it makes it all worth it 😁

This is the best time of year for riding- not too cold, not too wet and most importantly not too hot

I’d say that April, early May is the best. Just warming up, the trees look glorious after months of being bare, and the trails are clear of overgrowth. (Is that a word? 😀 ) Mid- summer is always a bit of a let down, being overgrown, muggy and full of flies. And probably raining. Autumn is cyclocross.

This summer, I made the switch to the dark side, from the road bike. And what a summer this has been!!!

TBH I’m actually looking forward to the wet months. I ride all year, all weathers on the road bike. Some proper grim rides this past winter, it was very cold one. But it’s still a laugh when out with the group.

But all this talk of mud, I’ve yet to see it, and I am looking forward to getting mucky. Ask me again in January though and it might be a different answer!

My only quandary is clothing. Roadies have evolved very good and sensible array of clothing options and layers. Will have to just suck it and see what works for me.

I ride all year, mtb & road but hate winter, it's the darkness that I hate most! The cold doesn't bother me that much but not a fan of rain and mud either.

You need steeper downhills

I do but steeper hills would not solve this issue. You need to experience clay mud to see how your wheels will not rotate no matter how steep!

Roadie clothing works very well on the MTB with the following exceptions

- might be more fragile so won't like being crashed in

- sometimes won't like getting caught in brambles etc

- will get caked in rubbish

I tend to wear roadie stuff for commuting (on the road) in and for MTB it's outdoorsy clothes on my top half (base layers, softshells, waterproofs), sometimes with a cycling jersey and then cycling clothes on my bottom half

<span style="display: inline !important; float: none; background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.4px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I’d say that April, early May is the best</span>

April was not a good month this year. It was muddy. May was definitely good.

There have only been 3 good months this year where bike cleaning after every ride has not been required: May, June and July

On average there seems to be 3 to 4 months where it's trails are very dry, it is not always the same months every year, can be any from April to October.

I am okay with winter for the first 2 months but after that start to get fed up with putting on all the clothes to keep warm (plus whatever I do I can't stop my toes getting cold)

April was not a good month this year. It was muddy. May was definitely good.

True. But this year has been a little unusual. 😀

(plus whatever I do I can’t stop my toes getting cold)

Flat pedals, VXI Fivetens a half size too big, merino socks under kneehigh sealkinz, tucked into bottom of kneepads.

None of that big brass heatsink on the bottom of my shoes, thank you very much... 🙂

Flat Pedals on a fixed gear with no brakes - no thanks.

After so many years hating Winter I decided to embrace it last year, my thoughts being that the cycling life is finite and anything is better than nothing even if I'm just bimbling.  This simple change of mindset has rid me of all foreboding - long live just popping out for a bit.