My Morning Commute

[huskerdont]

A vented jacket was my only concession; what do my legs care if it’s 42 degrees? I managed to just get by with fingerless gloves, but it was close. I think 40 degrees is my cutoff there. But everyone is different and has to dress according to their own bodies.

#HTFU

[ian74]

@Harry Meatmotor 147159 wrote:

had to LOL at the folks out there with lobster gloves, goretex shoe covers, and face masks/balaclavas this morning. I mean, what are they gonna do in February?

#freezingsaddlesiscoming

I did see a few balaclavas and big heavy jackets out this morning. I seemed to have hit the right clothing, which is unusual since every year I have to try and remember what works for what temps (No, I don’t write things down). Today was bib shorts, short sleeve jersey with arm warmers and my Gore softshell jacket with the sleeves removed, long finger gloves, skull cap. At times my toes felt a bit cold, and occasionally the fingers. It’s tricky though sometimes since it’s about 5-6 degrees colder (if not more) where I work, from where I commute from. Also I’m out for almost 2 hours.

Time to bring the winter clothing thread back from the depths. Bring on Freezing Saddles.

[FFX_Hinterlands]

@ian74 147162 wrote:

I did see a few balaclavas and big heavy jackets out this morning. I seemed to have hit the right clothing, which is unusual since every year I have to try and remember what works for what temps (No, I don’t write things down). Today was bib shorts, short sleeve jersey with arm warmers and my Gore softshell jacket with the sleeves removed, long finger gloves, skull cap. At times my toes felt a bit cold, and occasionally the fingers. It’s tricky though sometimes since it’s about 5-6 degrees colder (if not more) where I work, from where I commute from. Also I’m out for almost 2 hours.

Time to bring the winter clothing thread back from the depths. Bring on Freezing Saddles.

I thought the “trying to remember what to wear at this temp” was just a thing I experienced! Are my full-fingered gloves good for 40 or do I need heavy ones (or bar mitts?). Answer – bar mitts or heavier gloves when it’s below 45. I do love the sweat-free commute!

[Judd]

About 40 when I left this morning. Long sleeve jersey with a windbreaker, full finger light gloves and the leg warmers seemed to be just about right. I was on the edge of needing the ear muffs. It warmed up pretty quickly between 7 and 8 during Crystal City Coffee Club.

I saw several women biking in skirts around 8:30. I might have been a bit chilly in a skirt.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bobco85]

The only concession I made to the cold this morning was to wear long sleeved spandex under my shirt. Shorts and sandals forever!

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Harry Meatmotor 147159 wrote:

had to LOL at the folks out there with lobster gloves, goretex shoe covers, and face masks/balaclavas this morning. I mean, what are they gonna do in February?

#freezingsaddlesiscoming

I went with toe covers, since the MTB shoes I was wearing today are an extremely meshy and vent-y synthetic. And indeed, my toes were a little cold this morning. My road shoes, however, don’t need toe covers until the 30s since they’re leather.

On my hour commute I have plenty of time to ruminate on people’s clothing choices, particularly in the cold…of course there’s a bit of “everyone’s tolerances are different”, but I also think some people just have short commutes where overdressing isn’t an issue. My commute is at least 12 miles, so I have to make sure I’m a little cold when I actually get on the bike so I’m not soaked through with sweat by the time I get to work. But if my commute was 3 miles, I’d probably just dress to be comfortable from the second I set off.

[hozn]

@TwoWheelsDC 147171 wrote:

On my hour commute I have plenty of time to ruminate on people’s clothing choices, particularly in the cold…of course there’s a bit of “everyone’s tolerances are different”, but I also think some people just have short commutes where overdressing isn’t an issue.

Yeah, this is a huge factor. And I suppose how fast one is riding (wind). After an hour things start to get cold (I think really after being out for 30 minutes the temps catch up) and being out for 2.5 hours this AM, skimping on clothing would have been become pretty uncomfortable. (Of course, if you ride for long enough then it starts to warm up!)

Also the temp differences as you ride west are pretty substantial. It’s notable how much warmer it is riding into the city (e.g. to HP) vs. riding out to Reston. Especially that Hunter Mill valley where the thermometer always seems to drop 5 degrees.

After fumbling around for a few winters, I made myself some rules for when to apply shoe covers, etc. and I have learned that it doesn’t make sense to second-guess them. E.g. my feet will always be cold after an hour if I don’t have shoe covers on and it’s below 47F at home.

But this really is the best time of year on the forum, when folks start complaining about people not shielding their lights and then people start talking about how how they were comfortable in the 34º rain wearing only sandals and a thong. To me it’s a little funny crossing paths with cyclists whose comfort is belied by the redness of their exposed skin — or those wearing parkas and drenched in sweat when it’s a sunny 60º. Somewhere something got lost in translation; not knowing how to dress for the weather isn’t a sign of eliteness.

(But there are certainly plenty of folks that wear less than I do quite comfortably. I am a little envious of that as it would be nice to be able to save the money spent on winter gear.)

[Crickey7]

40-45 degrees is the perfect commuting temperature. Just cool enough for light full fingered gloves, long tights and mid-weight jersey (or jersey with light with vest), not cold enough to give up the sandals or need ear warmers. And minimal sweating.

[Tania]

Amazing the difference you can feel with a sparkly clean drivetrain…

[americancyclo]

@ian74 147162 wrote:

Today was bib shorts, short sleeve jersey with arm warmers and my Gore softshell jacket with the sleeves removed, long finger gloves, skull cap.

At times my toes felt a bit cold, and occasionally the fingers. It’s tricky though sometimes since it’s about 5-6 degrees colder (if not more) where I work, from where I commute from. Also I’m out for almost 2 hours.

(No, I don’t write things down)

You just did.

[GovernorSilver]

Interesting that some people actually feel colder after an hour of riding.

I’m usually burning up by the end of my hour ride, if the temperature is above 45F. But that’s because of the topology of my typical morning route. It starts with a hill descent – that’s when being dressed like it’s still summer when it’s 50F kind of sucks for me. But then I’ve got a little climb to warm me up, and the climb up to Washington St to warm me up some more. The finisher is the climb up Louisiana Ave – it’s a nice gentle slope but riding in traffic motivates me to pedal harder than I would on the MVT – followed by the descent down northbound N. Capitol St. into the “zoo” (buses, unpredictable taxis and utility vehicles), with possible sprints to try to beat the light on K St.

I’m sure it’d be a different experience if my commute ended in a steady descent with light traffic, with no climb involved on the previous couple of miles.

[bobco85]

Thursday morning was definitely up there on my list of favorite commutes. The sky had these awesome coral streaks in it, drivers were surprisingly calm for some reason, it was foggy and serene on the W&OD Trail, the weather was cool but not cold, and I got a high five from SteveO as we crossed paths while crossing Columbia Pike. I wanted to see if I caught the high five on camera, so I waited til tonight (well, after the Nats game) to actually view the footage. Btw, SteveO, I wasn’t sure if you were calling out to me at first (again, my people recognition skills are severely lacking), but I eventually realized it was you as we entered the intersection (still connected on the high five, though)!

coral stripes in the sky over Beauregard St/Seminary Rd in Alexandria
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action shots of the high five before and after; my front camera had condensation from the fog on it which I didn’t realize until later (doh!)
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beautiful fog on the W&OD Trail in Glen Carlyn Park next to Sparrow Pond (left: looking west; right: looking east)
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Random observation: while waiting at the Columbia Pike/W&OD intersection, I noticed that of the 5 of us cyclists waiting on either side, I was the only one who wasn’t in cycling uniform, i.e. wearing fluorescent yellow (I was wearing orange)

[KLizotte]

Is that bentbike in your second photo?

[vvill]

This weather is pretty good for “normal” clothes. I use padded liner shorts under commuting jeans, and then various combos of layers up top that can be easily changed. This morning I went with a thin Sockguy base under a short sleeve wool jersey and a Windstopper jacket for the first 30mins, given that I haven’t been riding in the mornings much lately. Switched to just base, jersey + arm warmers later on. For hands I used full finger MTB gloves (so, not insulated) which were perfect, and wool socks in my warm (but admittedly heavy) Chrome shoes.

[huskerdont]

For this morning, my only problem was that all my wool socks were wet from the laundry so I had to use thin poly summer socks. Still using fingerless gloves–trying to make it to November, though I have my Fox MTB gloves in the bag, just in case.

[Author]

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