You must be cold

It has been cold here in my adopted home town and I have occasionally enjoyed the wonderment of co-workers that I would ride a bike in such weather.

I started riding my bike to work in nice weather, but as time passed I felt the natural challenge of extending my range into winter. In February of 2007 I set my personal temperature record of riding at fifteen below (Fahrenheit), and in the winter of 2007-2008 I achieved full winter capability by getting a winter beater bike with studded tires and riding on snow-covered streets. One thing that amuses me is how so many people comment on how I must be freezing when I'm riding.

Just as one would not go for a walk in the winter in one's underwear, but instead would put on a proper coat, I don't go out on a bike without whatever clothing is needed to keep warm; I don't like being cold. It is perfectly possible to ride a bicycle in winter in comfort. It is only in our automobile culture where that seems strange.

There are plenty of internet sites offering suggestions for winter riding, so I will just explain what I myself do for proper clothing. You don't have to have fancy and expensive bicycle clothing. You just need normal stuff, but enough of it.

On the feet, I wear waterproof insulated hiking boots from Payless Shoesource, around $25. I start wearing just the boots and cotton socks when the temperature gets around freezing, and then change the sock configuration as the temperature drops. First I will add heavy wool socks over the cottons socks. Then I will swap out the cotton socks for wool dress socks. Next I will add the thin white "wicking" socks next to the skin. Finally I have some extra-heavy wool socks to replace the normal heavy wool socks.

On the legs, I wear regular cotton Docker-like pants, and over them I wear some shell pants that are designed to go over regular pants. They came from some military surplus store that I can't find any more. They have zippers part way up the legs for easy removal, and zippered slots where the pocket would be so I can reach through them into the regular pants pockets. When it gets into the single digits I replace those shells with some heavy wool paratrooper pants from the surplus store. These have plastic wind shields in the thighs. Below zero, I add long underwear.

On the torso, I wear a regular cotton shirt for work, over a white T-shirt. Over that I wear a fleece jacket, like a zippered sweater. On top of that, as the outer layer, I used to wear a Thinsulate parka, but now I have a custom-made biking jacket made of wind-resistant fleece. It has extra-long sleeves, and is extra long in the back. It zips up tightly at the neck to hold in warm air. These two items, the fleece jacket and the outer jacket, are warm down to zero degrees. Below zero, I will either add long underwear or replace the inner fleece jacket with a heavy wool sweater from the surplus store.

On the head, I have a balaclava (a hood with a hole for the face) from the surplus store. If it's really cold I will stuff a small rectangle of fleece inside the helmet to plug up the vents. For the gap between the hood and the jacket, I have a tube of stretchy fabric that I wear over the neck. Mine is home-made, but they can be found in stores.
when wind chill is a factor, I have a mask covers the nose and mouth and fastens in the back with the hook and loop closure.

Over the eyes I have some ski goggles from the surplus store. They came with interchangeable lenses so I can have a clear one. At least half of winter commuting trips are in the dark, so tinted goggles would not work.

The hands are the only weak point in my gear, but even those are at the point where the only parts of my hands that get cold are the tips of the thumbs at single-digit temperatures. Starting on the inside, I have hand-knitted wool mittens from my late aunt. Over that I have a hand-made mitten shell of generic fleece material. Over that I have another hand-made mitten shell of wind-blocking fleece from the Malden Mills on-line store. I had to make a minimum order of one yard at $20 a yard. Finally, on the outside, I have the standard Minnesota leather mitten shell.

It's a lot of stuff to put on, but not much more work than dressing to walk the dog or go skiing. We just have this idea in our collective head that riding a bike in the winter is odd or difficult or uncomfortable. It is odd only because few do it. It can be difficult if the streets are bad. It is rarely uncomfortable.