Does cold weather wear you out?

Pickled Pig

Yesterday was the coldest day I'd ridden on since getting my road bike in April. I did, for me, a longish ride but nothing exceptional and was under-dressed, feeling slightly cold while riding and caught out by a couple of heavy showers and I started shivering as soon as I stopped. Apart from being cold I was fine.
This morning I felt absolutely exhausted - much worse than usual after previous rides of similar length. I know that people trekking in the arctic burn 6000+ calories a day so does anyone find they tire more quickly in cold weather?

Peddle Up!

Went out yesterday on a short ride to fiddle with cleat settings and found it surprisingly tough. Woke up this morning with a stinking cold. The body knows...

wishitwasallflat

Personally I find I get less tired and recover faster if its cool or I'm cool when I ride - I sweat less and feel better if I keep myself cool. The most tired I ever get is on hot/warm muggy days where humidity is high - reckon its probably a personal thing though. Peddle up you were incubating that cold long before your bike ride you know. Pickled pig maybe you were too cold - cool is good too cold ain't

MatthewBulmer

I love cycling in cold, crisp conditions. It's the rain I hate and react badly to.

thescouselander

Not sure if it was the remains of my cold but I found it hard going in the cold air on the way to work this morning. I was finding breathing a bit difficult for some reason.

Normally I like cooler conditions as it stops me from getting too hot.

cookiemonster

Cool is fine, but I find there's a point where there's something like an "environmental stress" from the cold, wet or wind and a much larger physical effort is made to crank out the same distance and power

jon

hulla the hulla

MatthewBulmer wrote:

I love cycling in cold, crisp conditions. It's the rain I hate and react badly to.

+1 - yes sunny spring / summer days are great but the feeling of getting wrapped up warm in the finest quality technical clothing you own to go out and stick a decent ride in against the elements is a nice place to be IMHO anyway...:-)

To answer the OP Q, the only thing that normally kills me is the cold and lungs , in so much as I get lung burn

merak

Colder=denser air=more wind resistance=slower speeds. Winter miles count double.

ben16v

MatthewBulmer wrote:

I love cycling in cold, crisp conditions. It's the rain I hate and react badly to.

bang on!
did a few -2 rides last year as long as its dry and you have the correct gear on its great

hulla the hulla

Merak make a valid if somewhat tenuous point

marcusjb

I also love riding on crisp sunny days - I don't think there's any better conditions on a bike.

But there is a very valid point in saying that colder conditions can knacker you out more - your body will naturally burn more calories just trying to keep you warm. So, the same ride in summer might require a few less calories to complete than in winter, even at the same pace.

MattC59

merak wrote:

Colder=denser air=more wind resistance=slower speeds. Winter miles count double.

Colder = denser air = more Oxygen per breath = higher power output.

You should be puting in some fantastic times in the winter !

Cleat Eastwood

MattC59 wrote:

merak wrote:

Colder=denser air=more wind resistance=slower speeds. Winter miles count double.

Colder = denser air = more Oxygen per breath = higher power output.

You should be puting in some fantastic times in the winter !

Sadly my equation is


Colder = denser air = more Oxygen per breath+heavier bike = more tired legs.

gasman_dave

Denser air cancelled out by less O2 dissolved (partial pressure the same). The amount of oxygen in your lungs is exactly the same - the oxygen cascade.

It is just miserable and wet and all my joints creak! I think I get slowed down by hitting raindrops.

What lube for my knees/back/shoulder?

MattC59

gasman_dave wrote:

Denser air cancelled out by less O2 dissolved (partial pressure the same). The amount of oxygen in your lungs is exactly the same - the oxygen cascade.

Why can't I resist biting !!!!!!!

Incorrect, As the density increases the amount of Oxygen increases, not the percentage. it is the percentage v/v and the ambient air pressure which effect the partial pressure. So, for a given ambient air pressure, in cold weather the amount of Oxygen per unit volume increases. As it enters your lungs, the air will be warmed, will expand and become less dense, either increasing the volume of your lungs or increasing the pressure of the air. Either way. If you inhale 1L of cold air, it contains more Oxygen than 1L of warm air. As that air can not go anywhere, the amount of oxygen in your lungs isn't exactly the same.

However, the amount of oxygen which you can absorb is effected by the capacity of the tissues to extract oxygen and the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood.

KnightOfTheLongTights

Apart from air density and possible extra dragginess of road, I think you certainly use up more energy with any outdoor exercise in the winter, as the body is expending energy just to maintain its temperature.

When I was fellrunning I would always take more food with me on winter runs - and expect to be more tired at the end of it.

I expect the same is generally true of cycling.

MattC59

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

Apart from air density and possible extra dragginess of road, I think you certainly use up more energy with any outdoor exercise in the winter, as the body is expending energy just to maintain its temperature.

When I was fellrunning I would always take more food with me on winter runs - and expect to be more tired at the end of it.

I expect the same is generally true of cycling.

Surely, as the temperature drops, the molecules in the road surface and tyre will be vibrating less, and therefore friction will be lower, therefore your speed will increase. (Assuming your speed isn't sufficiently high that the friction from the air flow around your tyres is heating them and making them tacky !)

gasman_dave

What you inhale summer and winter is roughly the same atmospheric pressure (just there are a few more lower pressure weather systems.

Air is inhaled and heated to 37º, then becomes fully saturated with H2O.

(20.93/100)x(760-47) = 149mmHg the pressure of O2 in inspired air.

At sea level, O2 content (~21%) doesn't change. Atmospheric pressure doesn't change much till you start going up hills (very big ones).

This comes up all the time in our exams. It isn't the air that you breathe in, it is how it is changed by the body.

Why I have to know about anaesthetising someone at the altitude of Denver is still beyond me.

MattC59

gasman_dave wrote:

What you inhale summer and winter is roughly the same atmospheric pressure (just there are a few more lower pressure weather systems.

Air is inhaled and heated to 37º, then becomes fully saturated with H2O.

(20.93/100)x(760-47) = 149mmHg the pressure of O2 in inspired air.

At sea level, O2 content (~21%) doesn't change. Atmospheric pressure doesn't change much till you start going up hills (very big ones).

This comes up all the time in our exams. It isn't the air that you breathe in, it is how it is changed by the body.

Why I have to know about anaesthetising someone at the altitude of Denver is still beyond me.

Yes, but going back to my earlier point, the percentage of Oxygen doesn't change, but the physical number of molecules of oxygen does.

It's the same at altitude; Whether you're at sea level or on top of Everest, there's still 20.9% oxygen, but as it's at a lower pressure on top of Everest and hence a lower density, there are physically less Oxygen molecules in the air.

Which is why training at altitude is beneficial, you are getting your body used to performing with physically fewer molecules of oxygen in the air.

All of which is somewhat accademic, as we're discussing the effect of increased air density and molecular movement on your forward motion, due to a few degrees temperature change

gasman_dave

You are right, it is just that what happens in the lungs is partial pressure of O2 (the % of the atmospheric pressure).

Altitude training does loads, but most is done to increase blood count legally. It takes longer to adapt the actual haemoglobin to carry more O2 and shift the O2 dissociation curve. Coming back down and you revert quickly.

Anyway, you put on 3 more layers of restrictive clothing, make everything wet and cold and you will be working harder.

If your metabolic rate was higher, you would lose more weight! Don't know if that is true, though.

Some people I know (Rockfacemedicine.org I think) took some stuff to Everest base camp to see just how low everything got. They even took their families. They need to get out less.

theslowone

I have and have lived with asthma for many years and find that if I can keep my levels of fitness up then I rarely notice it. Exceptions are when its cold or damp. It may be that there is more O2 in the air, but when its cold I find it difficult to fill my lungs. Basicly I feel like I am unfit even though I know that not to be true. Makes you feel faster when the sun comes out in the spring though.

t5nel

MattC59 wrote:

It's the same at altitude; Whether you're at sea level or on top of Everest, there's still 20.9% oxygen, but as it's at a lower pressure on top of Everest and hence a lower density, there are physically less Oxygen molecules in the air.

Are you absolutely sure that is true? I am not saying I have evidence to disprove it but different air components do have different densities. For this reason it would not surprise me if the homogeneity of air may not be constant with respect to altitude. OT but what the hell you started it :P

bulluke23

Think the cold air does affect your airways especially when the wind is blowing straight in you r face.
It is medically known that cold conditions can exacerbate certain airway problems but it is a personal thing

cyberknight

I think the cold and lack of daylight wears you down.

I went out with the club today and i got dropped after 25 miles as i just felt like i had no legs even before we started, sometimes you need to know when to have a rest.

nochekmate

^^^^ was this the Mercia CC run? - is that you Sam? The 'rest' was at the cafe but it then went even faster afterwards!! 65 miles at a fraction under 20mph - quite a hard morning after yesterday's ride!

cyberknight

nochekmate wrote:

^^^^ was this the Mercia CC run? - is that you Sam? The 'rest' was at the cafe but it then went even faster afterwards!! 65 miles at a fraction under 20mph - quite a hard morning after yesterday's ride!

Its ben, i ride the white boardman.


I did not even make it to the cake stop as i got dropped on the hill just before the junction where you all went straight on and i turned left and headed for home via no mans heath .

My legs just did not have it today , i should have gone with the medium group and had an easy day as i should not struggle at that distance .On further reading the new tyres i had put on apparently are "like riding on chewing gum" so i will probably go back to the original tyres as well.

nochekmate

Ben - you live to fight another day! We all get 'non-going' days.

Paul on the blue/white Trek 6.9 today. Just about had the legs to survive this morning's ride (felt a bit weary due to 70 miles completed yesterday - 45 miles on a fast club run and 25 on the tandem with the wife!)

notlongnow

I find i need a pee more in the cold

Dmak

I just find I'm more susceptible to cramping in my calf muscles. Also if it's really cold the sweat will freeze on my head....nice!

Muffintop

wishitwasallflat wrote:

Personally I find I get less tired and recover faster if its cool or I'm cool when I ride - I sweat less and feel better if I keep myself cool. The most tired I ever get is on hot/warm muggy days where humidity is high - reckon its probably a personal thing though. Peddle up you were incubating that cold long before your bike ride you know. Pickled pig maybe you were too cold - cool is good too cold ain't

+1

I don't mind cycling in the rain either. Me and a mate of mine cycled from Bremar to Aberdeen last hogmany, it was -1 and snowing and one of the best cycles ever. The only time I hate cycling is when there is a constant head wind.

A marino long sleave base layer/wicking long sleave shirt for under your cycling jersey will help keep body warmth regulated. If you can streatch to a close fit weather proof cycle jacket - I have one which never gets properly wet - only damp - and perhaps a pair of thermal cycling tights you can cycle in all weathers. If you're going all out, sealskin socks are a must

oceheb

After cycle ride of about 50 miles, with temp about 4 degree and the Dales 30km walking route next day (it was quite windy), now sitting at home with cold/flu symptoms and looking at bountiful weather from the window. So take extra care and be careful with workloads.