How to dress when cycling in cold weather

I love the heat and humidity but there's something about winter riding that soothes my soul and sharpens my mind. It's as if the cooler it gets outside, the more excited I get to go outside for a bike ride. I was not always this way - it took me several years to learn how to dress appropriately for cold weather riding but as the saying goes "there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing."

Where we live in Greenville, SC. the weather can be unpredictable. Luckily, we are never too cold for too long and it rarely snows. While this is a great thing for year-round outdoor cycling, it does make it tricky for what to wear. 

As an example, in the past two weeks, we have enjoyed a variety of weather for a variety of outdoor rides. 

Warmish 2-hour afternoon gravel ride. Private skills session with our athlete Diane. 

9:30am, 3hr group ride. Started off foggy, stayed cloudy, got warm and then cooler again. 

Very cold 3.5 hour mountain bike ride. 

Sunny sky, cold 4 hour road bike ride. 

Our Greenville cycling community is all about year-round outside riding. There are so many group rides, events and other activities to encourage people to ride outside no matter the weather. With no formal group ride planned this past weekend, my friend Carley took me (and two others) on her favorite route. I was really excited for this route as it included a few roads that I had never explored before. I love that after 8 years, we are still discovering new safe roads for cycling. The views were incredible and the time went by so quickly. Since I had my Garmin bike computer set on the route, I had no idea how long we had been riding. When I got home, I was surprised to see that we rode for 4.5 hours and 73 miles. Although it was in the upper 30's when we started our ride at 9:30am, the sunny sky helped us stay warm, even though it stayed in the 40's throughout our ride. Although this wasn't a "hilly" route, we did manage to accumulate ~6200 feet of elevation over 4.5 hours. 

With this being my first cold outdoor road bike ride this year, I naturally overdressed for this ride as I wasn't sure what to wear. But before I left for the ride, I decided to make a quick change and I ended up dressing perfectly for this ride. 

-Base layer
-Long sleeve cycling jersey
-Cycling shorts 
-Leg warmers 
-Shoe covers
-Long sleeve gloves 
-Ear covers

Depending on the air temp, wind chill, ride speed, intensity, duration and location (ex. protected wooded area like mountain biking vs. exposed gravel or road biking), there's a lot to consider when it comes to dressing appropriate for cold weather riding. 

A put together a video of showcasing some of the clothing that I have invested into for the winter cycling season. Because I ride outside year round, my wardrobe for outdoor winter riding is much larger than what I need/use for warm weather riding. But it's worth it. It would be a shame to spend the entire winter riding indoors. My bikes (and me) love to be outside. 

 

Cesta Z Mesta Ride

I was really looking forward to our Saturday long ride. We are continuing to build up our weekly cycling mileage as we prepare for our first attempt at the 7-day Haute Route Alps from August 21st-27th. In addition to our triathlon training (Note to self: IM Lake Placid is in a month), we are putting in a lot of quality riding. Whereas two weeks ago I was on the struggle bus getting back into structured training, this past week I felt really strong and fresh. My body came around and I felt like I was recovering well from my training sessions. On Monday we did an EZ 1 hour spin, Tues was the Spinners A-group ride (3:43/69 miles - we ride to/from the group ride) and Wednesday we went mountain biking for almost 3 hours (24 miles). Thursday I had a private bike skills session with an athlete (90 minutes). In total, before Saturday I had ridden for almost 10 hours. 

On Friday evening, Karel mapped out our Saturday ride and called it Cesta Z Mesta - in Czech it means "The Road Out of Town." The planned route was 104 miles, 9,000 feet of elevation gain. Our plan was to leave at 8am. 

Well, plans changed. 
First off, Karel needed to Skype with his mom and brother in Czech to help his mom with her Visa for when she comes to stay with us in Sept-November. Nearing 9:30am, we were getting ourselves ready and it started raining. I looked at the radar and it looked like the rain would stop around 10am so we did some mobility, finished preparing our nutrition and heading out - in the drizzling rain - around 10am.

Although we were in no rush to get home, Karel thought it would be best for us to adjust some of our route so that we were not riding the entire day (and into the evening). Seeing that our miles go by really slow due to the technical and challenging nature of our terrain, we shortened the ride from 104 miles to 85 miles by omitting the entire Green River Cove loop. 

I started the ride feeling pretty good so my goal for the day was to try to sit on Karel's wheel on the climbs. For our mini yolomites ride the previous weekend, I made sure to pace myself for the long day ahead and didn't get aggressive on any of the climbs. I knew that pushing myself early on in our ride on Saturday would mean I would risk blowing myself up but I wanted to push myself for this ride. 

We wore our hydration packs for this ride to minimize stopping and to ensure we had plenty of fluids. We each had two bottles on our frame and I had 1.5 L (Karel had 2L) in our backpacks. I had INFINIT in my pack and Skratch SuperFuel in my bottles. I also brought along a Supra bar as well as fig newtons to keep myself fueled throughout the ride. It was on the cooler side when we started (and a bit misty with the rain) but it warmed up as the day went on.

The first 90 min of the ride was punchy. Once we got to the Watershed, we settled into a good rhythm for 11 miles to Mine Mountain. I was feeling strong. 

 

We enjoyed a few miles of descending down to the Saluda grade. Because the roads were slick due to the rain, I stayed a bit cautious and Karel rode away from me on the descend. I felt safe and confident on the descend but I didn't want to take any risks. 

Once we got to the Saluda grade, it was time to climb a few miles into Saluda. At this point, Karel's legs were speaking to him. He was struggling. I love the Saluda Grade climb because it's a steady grade and not steep and I can easily settle into a nice rhythm. I ended up riding away from Karel and waited for him at the top. I felt sad that he was feeling so empty but he wanted to see if he could ride off the fatigue. 

I LOVE my new USWE hydration pack! 

Because we adjusted the route, instead of doing the entire Green River Cove loop (which would add another 20 miles to our ride), Karel and I descended down the Green River Cove Switchbacks, then turned around by the tubing parking lots and rode back up. This was the first time that we had biked down the 17 tight switchbacks and I was surprised that I wasn't scared. I could tell that my bike handling skills have really improved thanks to all the group riding and mountain biking I've been doing over the past year. 

The climb was challenging but doable. There are a few kickers in between the switchbacks that really make the legs talk but otherwise, the switchbacks help to break things up. We climbed the 2 miles back up and then made a stop at the gas station to refill bottles. We had a fun and fast descend down for a few miles down the Saluda Grade to the Pearson Falls Road. I love the Saluda Grade descend as it has great flow with wide turns and it's not busy with cars to slow you down. After the descend, we climbed up Mine Mountain for ~5 miles. At this point, I knew Karel was struggling. I went ahead and would often look back and I could see Karel's head hanging low, struggling with each pedal stroke. I felt so bad for him that the only way home was to keep riding. He was totally empty. He told me that I could go ahead as he didn't want me to feel like he was slowing me down and he would eventually make his way home but I didn't want to leave him. I thought back to all the many rides where Karel was feeling so strong but he would wait for him to catch back up. I knew we needed to finish this ride together. 

We had about 8 miles of descending down the Watershed to loosen out the legs (it's not really a fast descend as you still have to work for it and pedal throughout) and then to Dividing Waters. For the rest of the ride, Karel stayed behind him and I pulled him home. He was so relieved when we finally made it back into Traveler's Rest and on to the trail. It was just after 4pm and Karel was done. 

I finished the ride feeling really strong and wanted to do our planned run off the bike. I ran for 40 minutes and finished my workout just after 5pm. It was a long day of training but a great one for me. Karel didn't run and instead, took Campy for a walk after he made himself a recovery shake. 
We finished the ride with 85 miles in 5:40 and 7500 feet of elevation gain. 

Although we both went into this ride a little fatigued from our previous training, Karel had a bad workout. It just wasn't his day. Sometimes you are the hammer and you do the pounding and sometimes you are the nail - you get pounded. Sadly, Karel was the nail. 

When a bad workout happens, it's important to reflect on the reason(s) for feeling off. Could it be nutrition, sleep, stress, fatigue, previous training sessions, weather......? Often times, we can contribute a bad workout to something specific. But then there are times when we just have off days. There's no real reason why they happen but there will be times in training and on race day when you can't deliver the effort that you hoped for - and that's ok. 

There's no reason to blame it on your body or make excuses. Sometimes the stars just don't align and you need to give yourself a break. There have been plenty of times when Karel and myself have had a bad bike workout and followed it up with a great run. But then there are times, in your gut, when you know that the run off the bike doesn't make sense. Karel made his decision not to run, didn't dwell on it or feel guilt and just moved on. 

When training is your lifestyle, there are going to be speed bumps. The peaks will almost always outnumber the valleys so never let a lousy workout question your abilities. Fail forward! 

Our "MINI" YOLOMITES Ride

On June 15th I received a group the weekly email from Jeff M., which highlighted the weekly/weekend rides and past events in and around Greenville. The email was promoting an upcoming ride called the Yolomites (which combines YOLO - you only live once and DOLOMITES - cycling heaven in Italy).

Last year I heard about this local curated event and ever since, it had been on my mind. I love doing physical feats for the first time and I have never ridden over 115 miles. The Yolomites ride is as follows (starting from Lex Mullinex Park)

• First Loop: Watershed, Mine Mtn, Skyuka, White Oak, Hogback, Grade, Green River Switchbacks, down watershed to car. 77 miles, ~10,000ft of climbing.
• Second Loop: Watershed, Olivet, down Olivet, down Watershed back to car. 26.5 miles, ~2600ft of climbing. 
• Third and fourth Loop: Cliffs - Mountain Summit to the very top, North side of Panther, back down Panther, Down Mountain Summit, back to car. 25 miles, ~3800ft of climbing 
  Total: 130 miles, 16,234 ft of climbing. 

The funny thing is that this ride doesn't even include all of our "famous" climbs that we have in and around the area!

Karel and I love cycling adventures, especially around Greenville. There are so many hard, challenging, beautiful, scenic climbs where we live and the roads are very bike friendly. Anytime we are in need of an adventure, we can simply bike from our driveway and head to the mountains. We have put together several rides where we map out a route and try to conquer our idea. Often times, we finish the ride saying "that seemed like a good idea at the time." 😁

I thought it was crazy to ride 130 miles and 16,000 feet elevation gain on some of our most challenging climbs outside of Greenville but I was just crazy enough to come up with my own version - calling it the "mini" Yolomites. I mapped the route, invited a few friends and talked Karel into my crazy adventure. Here's the route.

With the route loaded in our computers and bottles filled, Alvi, Kenny, Karel and I started from our house around 8:30am and finished the ride around 4pm, with right around 7 hours of riding time. It was great to have the company and a lot of laughs were shared along the way. 

As for the ride, I was surprised how quickly the day went by. It was hot and very windy. Because I kept my computer on the map setting, I never knew the time of the day, how far we had ridden or how much we had left to ride (that is until Alvi would remind me that we still had x-number of miles or feet of climbing left ;) 

Karel was feeling empty from the first pedal stroke but he was able to finish off strong (must have been the ice cream from our one stop in the town of Saluda). 

We kept the effort pretty chill throughout the ride as it was a long day in the saddle. Karel and I wore our hydration packs that we use for mountain biking/gravel riding (Karel wears USWE and I have a CamelBak). Having our hydration packs was a game changer as we had plenty of fluids and calories so we never had to ration on drinks to rely on a store stop. Alvi and Kenny brought an extra bottle but I'd say that we were probably a bit better hydrated thanks to our packs. It was also nice to be able to keep one frame bottle of water to use for cooling as it got into the 90's during our ride. 

I started with two bottles of Skratch Superfuel (400 calories per 26-ounce bottle) and then 4 scoops INFINIT (custom formula) in my 50-ounce hydration pack. I brought along 2 baggies (each with 2 scoops INFINIT, ~240 calories total each bag) to refill my bottles along with a packet of FLUID (which I gave to Karel because he didn't have any more sport nutrition at our stop). I also had a Picky Bar and a few honey stinger chews. We refilled bottles at the top of Skyuka (3:20 into the ride) and again in Saluda (5:30 into the ride). At our store stop in Saluda (around 5:30 into the ride), I had 3/4 Mexican coke and a few bites/licks of Karel's Lemon Pie ice cream. I felt really good throughout the ride and I feel I paced myself really well on the climbs. I felt very confident on the descends and had a lot of fun flying down the climbs. My only low moment was on the watershed descend which came shortly after our store stop. That is pretty typical to feel a drop in blood sugar after a stop, especially when descending and not giving much effort. It actually felt good to push a bit up Callahan mountain - I instantly felt my energy levels go up and stayed strong until we got back home. Alvi got a flat from a nail in his tire a few miles from our house (6 miles away) but aside from a quick stop to regroup at the top of climbs, we had 36 minutes of "stopping" plus 7 minutes for Alvi to fix the hole in his tire. 

It took us about 1-hour to get to our first official climb (out of six) of the ride. 

Watershed climb - 8 miles
Mine Mountain - 5.4 miles (more descending than climbing)
Skyuka Mountain - 4.2 miles
Hogback Mountain - 3.8 miles
Saluda Grade - 6.6 miles
Callahan Mountain - 1.5 miles

If you'd like to learn more about some of our epic climbs in and around the area, you can check out this blog post that I wrote a few years back. It's crazy that we are still discovering new routes and new climbs. We had never been on Mine Mountain before (but have ridden by the road a million times) and it is now one of our favorites. The road condition was great and after a short climb, there was a very fast and fun descend to take us to the Saluda grade. 

With 5 weeks until IM Lake Placid and 9 weeks until we start the 7-day Haute Route Alps, we are having a lot of fun with our training. 

On top of Skyuka

And in case you were wondering, out of 30 starters for the Yolomites ride, 4 people completed the entire ride. The fastest was Jeff who finished in 8:55.36 and Kathleen finished in 9:24.22. Mark White, who painted the route, set up the coolers and made the signs, finished the ride at 2am. Talk about grit and determination! 

Here are some pics from our adventure on two wheels....

Starting out and heading toward the Watershed

Fresh bodies one hour in


Too tired to stand. On top of Skyuka. Such a hard climb with long grades above 12%. 

Karel thinking about how to get a ride back home ;) 


Life is better again. Lemon pie ice cream hit the spot. 

Climbing the Watershed. So peaceful.

Riding toward Skyuka. Such a hard climb and fun twisty steep and fast descend. 

On top of Hogback. 

Riding Mine Mountain for the first time. Loved it! 

Who loves climbing Skyuka? At least the view is a thumbs up! 


Riding to another climb...

Finding more mountains to climb. 
Find

Enjoying the views and quiet roads. 

I talked them into this crazy idea. 

Climbing Skyuka. 

The amazing route markers that made us laugh every time we saw one.