Not everyone has experienced a Northern Illinois winter, let alone ride bicycles in Northern Illinois winter weather. The hardest part of winter cycling is being comfortable with freezing winds, ice, snow and bears – oh my. I will say it is easier to remain comfortable in super cold or warm climates. The 2-10 degree Celcius range is tricky and is best suited with removable and addable layers.
Riding a FatBike is basically a moving furnace conducting your own heat or a steam locomotive with the streaming trailing line of hot steam in a dissolving midst. And your central body is often warm and comfortable as long as you let the steam escape while still staying insulated. Fingers and toes are often the first to get uncomfortably cold.
Booze helps a bit, but proper gear is a must. I, for the first time, was completely comfortable on a time tenured sub-freezing ride with an average temp of 10° in 120 elapsed minutes.
I’ve known for some time that Thinsulate was an outstanding winter ally and I finally have amazing gear to truly backup my cycling nonsense and babblings. Here we go!
My Perfect 10° Cycling Gear ingredients:
The shoes were outstanding for two hours and the same goes for the gloves. I am contemplating a Gran Fondo this weekend. On a FatBike it’s gonna consume a good 7-8 hours. It may be a little warmer, but we will see.
PROST!