Winter cycling

This article is about cycling in the cold, or to be more precise, it's about keeping my feet warm while cycling in the cold weather. Around here it was about 26-28 degrees during the day. I was trying to ride 2-3 hours at a time in my base training zone. Keeping my body warm wasn't a big deal. I layered with multiple wicking layers, and a wind resistant outer shell. On my head I used a Sugoi beanie hat under my helmet. I used a Gator neoprene face mask. On my hands were some old Saranac ski gloves. These don't have any gel in them or anything like that, so I do have to keep moving my hands around.  All this was working for me very well, except for my feet. My feet were cold. Not just cold, but extremely cold. Painfully cold. Frost bitten. This is going to be a long winter if my feet were going to be that cold. How do people ride in the winter?

I started my quest for warm feet by searching on the Internet. A quick search for "winter cycling" led me to several websites. The best seemed to be www.icebike.org. This is a website dedicated to winter cycling. These guys seemed to know what they were talking about. In their "Tested on ice" section there is a whole bunch of tips about what to do about cold feet. As I read through, I was disappointed because I had tried almost everything they suggested. I was using merino wool socks. I was using Gator neoprene mountain bike shoe covers. I didn't want to have to put foot warmers in, I thought that might get expensive.  The one thing I saw was somebody suggested removing the insole because the heavier socks might to too tight for the shoe and this might cut off circulation. I did notice that my feet were tight in my shoe. I realized my circulation was being cut off to my toes. So my next ride I took out the insoles. 

About 20 minutes into my 2 hour ride, I was disappointed yet again as my toes started to get cold at first then really painfully cold by the end of the ride. The next day i had a shopping trip planned. I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and get toe warmers. I was surprised they weren't that expensive for Little Hotties adhesive toe warmers. I grabbed a box of 30 pairs. On my next ride( and every ride after) I used them. Again 20 mins into my next ride, I could tell where I was headed, toescicles.

 I went back to the website and one suggestion was to move the cleat back from the ball of the foot, but I knew my cleat was back all the way already, so that wouldn't help. A quick look over at my shoe confirmed- no, whats this! There it was, my cleat all the way up front. I checked my other shoe, same thing. My cleats were under the balls of my feet, possibly cutting off the circulation to my toes. So I got out my allen wrenches, and started adjusting the cleats. While I was  there I thought about the employee Butch at Skyline Cycles who told me to tape the bottom of my shoes, so cold air didn't get in. So I got the gorilla tape out and laid it down in the footbed trying to cover up the whole footbed. Now it was time to test the new setup. I wasn't very hopeful, I mean how can moving the cleat that much really help? 

Before I changed my cleats.

After I changed my cleats.

So I put my woolie boolie 2 socks on from DFeet, attached the toe warmers, and put my shoes on. I put my shoe covers on and away I went. 20 minutes into the ride I could still feel my toes. 1 hour in and my toes were getting cold, but not freezing. By the 2 hour mark my toes were cold yes, but I didn't really notice like on my previous rides. I think moving the cleat back helped immensely. Come to think of it, in the summer on long rides sometimes my feet would go numb. Having my cleats up towards the front may have been causing a lot of problems. 

During my quest for warmer feet my girlfriend convinced me that I should order winter specific cycling shoes. I found the key after I ordered, but before they arrived. I was happy to see my Shimano MW-81's show up. After one 2 hour ride with toe warmers and wool socks, but no shoe covers, my feet were finally warm. I did order the winter shoes 1 full size bigger to allow heavy socks and warmers inside without cramping. After I have more miles and time with these shoes I will write more about them, but for now I feel confident that I'll be riding all winter long in the years to come.