A comfortable commute at -3 F and my foot warmth plan.

I finally have this cold weather stuff figured out. My ride in today was most enjoyable even with an air temp of -3 F and a windchill in the minus teens. I'm confident I can now do my 8 mile commute in any conditions. Rain, snow, bitter cold...I can do it. I think the only condition I would be leery of would be freezing rain that has formed solid ice on the roads.

I remember the first real winter commute I did a few years back. I think the temperature was in the mid teens above zero. I thought I was going to die out there. I've learned a lot since that ride. The best part is the fact that I enjoy it. I like getting outside and starting my day with a bicycle commute. No matter what the weather is like. There's no funner way to get around, as far as I'm concerned.

After riding my fixed gear bicycle over 5,000 miles last year, today was the first day on the fixie this year. Until this recent blast of cold air we had temps that produced melting and freezing on a daily basis. So I rode the winter commuter with studded tires for all the icy spots out there over the past few weeks. Yesterday I realized the roads were finally clear enough of ice to no longer need the studded tires until the next round of precipitation or thawing. What a joy it was to ride the fixie. No noisy studded tires. No fenders banging on the almost too wide tires on every bump in the road. And a nice quiet single speed drivetrain. A nice sunrise over the big lake topped off an already beautiful morning ride.

Chris asked me what my foot warmth plan is after I commented my feet were toasty warm in zero degree weather over the weekend. I don't know if I can offer any wisdom to Chris. He wants to keep his cleated footwear. I can't blame him. I tried everything I could think of to avoid going to platform pedals. But in the end I had to go to platforms if I had any hope of keeping my feet warm for extended bike rides below 20F. I even tried using Hotronic foot warmers last year.

So I gave up the cleated shoes and pedals. The SPD's I use just suck all the heat out of the bottom of my foot. I tried adding some layers of insulation between my foot and the sole of the shoe. Didn't help much at all. It might have added a few degrees of warmth at most. For rides under an hour I can use my Lake winter boots in any temp. For anything over an hour they only take me down to about the 20 degree mark.

Here is my foot warmth solution as of Saturday:

1 pair $7 polypro liner sock
Integral Designs Vapor Barrier Sock
Smartwool Expedition Trekking Sock
North Face Lifty 400GTX Winter Boots (2 sizes bigger then my normal size)
Boot Glove neoprene boot covers
1 pair hand warmers

It takes me a few days to get used to not being able to pull up on the pedals every time I switch to platforms. But I do get used to it. It does have it's advantages also. I don't fall as much on ice and snow because I can get a foot down much quicker. Easier to stop or get going in deep snow conditions. Don't have to clean snow off cleat every time you want to clip in, especially in "wet" snow conditons.

A note on hand warmers. These work when they come in contact with air. If you cut off the air, they will go cold. They would never work for me utnil this year when I bought shoes too big for my feet. This allows for some air space in the toe box that allows the hand warmers to work effectively. The air space also provides an area that traps heat next to your feet and helps your insulation trap the heat you are generating. Whe used outside a vapor barrier they work much better. Moisture seems to cut down on there effectiveness and the amount of heat they give off.

I bought an entire years supply of hand warmers back in September from Seirra Trading Post. I must have bought 5 or 6 dozen. If you buy them by the dozen they only cost $.70 a pair compared to the normal $2.00 retail price. I don't bother with the toe warmers. The don't seem to work as well.

Another tip on the hand warmers. They stay warm for 6-7 hours. Today I used a pair on my morning commute. Kind of a waste to use one pack in the morning and a second pack after work. But wait...if you drop the still warm heat packs in an airtight jar or ziplock baggy the reaction stops occurring. When you expose them to air again later it only takes a few minutes until they are warm again. So when I got to work today I put the warmers in a ziplock and then used the same ones again for my ride home. It won't work if you want to put them in a bag for a couple of days, I think the reaction doesn't stop completely. It just slows it down. But it works great if you want to use them twice in the same day or next day.

Sunday: 0 mi
Monday: 20 mi
Tuesday: 20 mi
January: 288 mi