Meandering Velonauts

This year I’ve riden my bike four times below 30° and each time I ended up with mild frost nip on my feet. I’ve tried everything to keep my feet warm, but each time I end up with numb toes 1 hour into my ride. Last week was especially cold, and although color has returned to my feet there are still small patches of numb skin. I’m not alarmed, as I’ve heard it can take some time for your nerves to recover from frostnip.

What I’ve learned is that I need to go the extra mile to keep warm during cold morning commutes. I’ve found my existing equipment wont let me safely ride below 32°. To do this I’m going to have to invested in better equipment. So I’ve purchased  Moose Mitts and Lake MXZ302x boots.

Pogies are a simple piece of bicycle gear to cut down on the affects of wind chill while riding. Wind chill, not temperature, is the primary cause of frost-nip in your hands. I’ve found even lobster gloves do not provide enough protection from the wind to keep my fingers warm. After some amount of research, I decided I needed pogies. Moose Mitts are fleece lined, water proof, wind proof, and include a reflective strip. I purchased them from my friends at Chain Reaction Cycles in Anchorage. I hope these little guys allow me to continue riding well below freezing with little or no gloves on.

While my Sidi Storm cycling shoes are considered “winter cycling” shoes I purchased them in Maryland over 6 years ago. They did the trick back in Maryland, but I’ve found them ineffective below 40°. After much reading I decided I wasn’t ready to give up on clipless shoes. Instead of abandoning clipless shoes I’ve purchased the Lake MXZ302 winter boots. They have good reviews and appear to be much warmer than my old Sidi shoes. The good news is they are too warm for fall and spring temperatures, so my Sidi shoes will still have a home.

I fully plan on testing this equipment both commuting and snow biking this winter. I’ll keep everyone updated on how these items hold up to a season of use.

Just checked out the weather forecast for tomorrow and it is going to be a cold morning. I’ll start my ride at 5:15 AM with the temperature a balmy 26° (wind chill of 22°). I’m looking forward to using my lights, since sunrise isn’t until just after 7:00 AM. Should be a great fun ride to work, but it’s going to be cold.

Morning Riding Clothing

• REI Silk Long Underwear Shirt
• REI Silk Long Underwear Pants
• Giordana Pro Bib
• Pearl Izumi Kodiak Lite Jersey
• Pearl Izumi AmFIB Tights
• Pearl Izumi Gavia Jacket
• Pearl Izumi AmFIB Lobster Mitts
• Smart Wool Socks
• Sidi Winter MTB Shoes
• OR WindStopper Skull Cap
• Seirus Mask

UPDATE @ 10:05 AM:

OMG it was effing cold. NOAA was way off on their forecast. I woke up to 22° temperatures, so wind chill was closer to 14°. Determined to test my gear and resolve I pushed off into the night.

It was dense fog, and my lights cut through them as good as any car. I was passed cautiously by a few cars this morning, so I know the lights are doing their job. The headlamp was a great idea, as I could focus the light on spots I thought was ice.

My feet froze by the 15 mile marker (1 hour in) and I contemplated calling the sag-wagon. I pushed through the pain, and made it to work. I’m lucky I didn’t get frost bite, but had a bad case of frost nip.

What did I learn?

My fingers freeze inside Lobster Mitts at below 20°. I need pogies badly. My sidi winter boots are no good below 30° on their own. I need electric socks, outer booty, and maybe inner booty.

My legs, arms, head, and chest were very toasty. The equipment did a good job keeping my core warm for as long as it did.

Drinking was a huge problem. I normally take bottles, which surprisingly didn’t freeze. However, it was difficult to remove my mask, and drink from the bottle. Also the water was quite cold, and chilled me each time I drank. I think I need warm water for cold morning like this. Time to see what mountaineers do.

Things are going slow rebuilding the Novara Safari. Overall progress has been delayed with trips, rides, work, and general lazyness. Things picked up on Sunday as parts arived in the mail Friday afternoon.

So what am I doing to the Safari? Well, I’m changing the shifter to SRAM Attack triggers and the brakes to BB7s. I replaced the stock housing with Avid Pit-stop flak jackets. The handlebars were redone with cork grips and matching cork tape. I rebuilt the Truvativ FireX bottom bracket, which removed the play in the cranks.

I’m nearly done working on the bike, and ready to ride into work a few mornings. I hope to have the bike done tomorrow or wednesday. I haven’t checked the weather forecast for Thursday or Firday, but I’ll be out there rain, snow, cold, or shine.

My commuter bike has been in stuck in the workstand now for 3 weeks. First week was waiting for new parts, delayed due to someone stealing my credit card number. Second week I was out of town for work/short weekend vacation. This week I am so swamped at work that I’m getting about 1 hour max bench time per night. Tonight I’m still at work, preparing for windows patching and server testing. Uhg, wont get back to bike until tomorrow evening.

So I’m left with no commuter bike this week, and spending all free time wrenching. I hope to have her ready on Saturday, as I plan on doing a nice mountain bike ride on Sunday.

It’s 5:00 AM and still dark outside. I grab my bike commuter light and start my 28 mile ride to work. My tail light was lost a few weeks ago on a cloudy ride to work so the front will have to manage all by its self. As I pedal out of our culdesac, I realize its too dark for me to see the road, let alone a car see me. the headlight is worthless, like my bell nobody ever hears. As angry motrists race by me on their way to work, I start to think about everything that could go wrong if they don’t see me. I make a packs if I live through the morning I’m buying a commuter light system.

I safely arrived at work this morning so I starting doing some digging on the internet. I made a list of features I was looking for to help in my search. I came up with:

1. Minimum of 2 – 4 hours of  rechargable burn time.
2. 1000+ lumins headlight(s)
3. 300+ lumins tail light
4. handlebar/helmet combination for night-time trail riding.
5. I want to be as vissible at night as I can, bright like a car.

I checked out all of the bicycle budget brands, which leave alot to be desired. I next looked at 24 – hour race lights for durability and burn time. Then Eric suggested I check out Dinotte Lighting USA. Eric used the 800L and 400L bar/helmet combo on our Indian Creek afterwork ride a few months ago. They were very nice lights and have been holding up well since he got them. I was happy to learn Dinotte has a road bike line of light too. They also have one of the brightest production tail lights I’ve ever seen.

I ended up ordering the 800L Headlight, 400L helmet and 400L taillight combo from Dinotte. I should be able to mix and match the gear to provide the best possible balance of vissability and safty. I’m sure I’ll feel more comfertable the next morning I ride to work.