My mental mate

Kieran_Burns

-2 on the outside thermometer this morning, realfeel is showing -6. So it's parking freezing...

I decide to keep warm and wear:

2 thin pairs of socks with the MW80s
bib shorts, summer tights and thermal leggings
long sleeve base layer, and Altura nightvision jacket
gore liner gloves and thermal gloves
buff, headcover and helmet, plus wraparound glasses

It was about spot on temp-wise. Barely raised a sweat but my feet were a bit cold, I think the socks were too tight in the shoes. Apart from that: spot on

I meet up with my mate and he's got on a scarf and woolly hat under his helmet, woolly gloves, thick jacket, baggy shorts and trainers

Let's just say that last bit again

Baggy Shorts
Trainers

It's sub-zero and the mad sod has bare legs and nothing but socks and trainers for his feet.

I was stunned, completely gob-smacked, and he happily got on with it - cycled the rest of his 18 miles into work (oh yeah: 18 miles in shorts in sub-zero temps)

Mind you: I have to say, his legs went an amazing shade of red as we cycled along.

MarksMintness

Er Ouch! is he a geordie I wonder?

UndercoverElephant

Legs that shade of red *need* to be hit really hard with a football. :twisted:

daviesee

I see a guy who commutes year round past my digs in Aberdeen.
He wears the same clothes year round.
Baggy shorts and t-shirt.

Yes. He wore the same right though the excesses of last winter :shock:

He may have conceded to gloves.

Totally mental!

notsoblue

The two seals bobbing in the water keep him warm.

veronese68

I regularly see a bloke riding through Bushy Park, bald head and short shorts. He glows a very bright hue. When I saw him at the gate on Monday I told him it was too cold for shorts he replied in a very high pitch for a chap so I can only assume his testicles had fallen off. When I saw him yesterday in the middle of the park riding along he looked truly miserable. This confirmed to me that it is to ocold and he is obviously persevering with shorts due to a combination of stubbornness, pride and stupidity.

Ben6899

Shorts in this weather is idiotic. No matter how hard you think you are or how little you feel the cold compared to most, you need to be looking after knees and muscles.

As for the baggy shorts... that's another thread altogether.

davis

I'm seriously considering something warmer than (edit: baggy) shorts tomorrow.

Wrath Rob

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Legs that shade of red *need* to be hit really hard with a football. :twisted:

This made me laugh and brought back all sorts of schoolboy memories of freezing cold football/rugby games...

king_jeffers

hehe must be a northerner :-) I did the same yesterday two layers + boil in bag high viz cycling jacket, dhb buff under helmet, double socks, overshoes and my baggy MTB shorts :-) Thats been my winter commuting outfit for the most part, first time I really felt the cold was on the way home last night. Usually my legs don't suffer that much, although saying that I bottled it this morning and went for something a bit longer :-)

walkingbootweather

Corned beef legs are to my mind rather under-rated.

Wallace1492

I have found that shorts can be fine down to -5C. I have no bother with knee or muscle at that temperature. Any lower and I do feel it though, and I would assume that if I was out for longer than 40 mins it may feel worse too.

I generally don't feel the cold too much.

mrc1

Wrath Rob wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Legs that shade of red *need* to be hit really hard with a football. :twisted:

This made me laugh and brought back all sorts of schoolboy memories of freezing cold football/rugby games...

Me too - breaking a leg has nothing on that!

Ear flicking was the other onel. That was akin to being shot.

nation

I'm still riding in wearing 3/4 baggies. I have some thick wool socks on, though.

This morning it was those, merino long sleeve baselayer, hoodie, buff to cover the head and ears, and winter gloves.

The Rookie

I did put the tights on under the 3/4's this morning.....

Simon

roger_merriman

People do have different temp levels I find over 20'c hot and 25'c fairly unpleasent.

if i'm out for a blast on the SS then i'm shorts and long sleaved top.

on the MTB is normally the same though will use outdoor troursers and waterproof shoes if it's wet or very cold.

I don't have a problems with shorts but can get cold feet as the normal shoes are vented for summer use.

Daz555

I never wear anything but shorts on my legs no matter how cold it is. Once I start riding my legs do not get cold at all - same goes for the feet.

I do wrap up my hands and upper body though and need something to cover my ears on very cold days.

graham.

Daz555 wrote:

I never wear anything but shorts on my legs no matter how cold it is. Once I start riding my legs do not get cold at all - same goes for the feet.

I do wrap up my hands and upper body though and need something to cover my ears on very cold days.

Ditto.
My "commute" (If you can call it that.) is about 3 miles each way and takes about 10 mins. I like to keep my top half warm, but other than that it's running type shorts, bike shoes and socks, and I don't care how cold it gets.
I'm the furthest you could get from some sort of he man type. When I belonged to a local diveing club I was always the first to wimp out of winter dives.
Graham.

rjsterry

If it's only 3 miles, you won't have had time to chill down. On my 13-17mile commute I start off warm, then get cold, then eventually warm up again.

jds_1981

I'm not entirely convinced on the muscles/knees getting cold. If you're cycling at a reasonable pace then surely they're going to be fairly warm & if they weren't then you'd be well on your way to hypothermia with your blood pumping around?

Coach H

Did 30 miles this morning by Lincolnshires east coast with the wind comming straight off the North Sea.
Wrapped up warm but my nose and cheeks were properly cold when I spotted a mountain biker wearing a well vented helmet, a pair of baggies and vented shoes. Even for someone on the dark side this seemed mental.

As I passed him I commented on the cold and he admitted that he was in trouble from the cold and was still 10 miles from home. I gave him by spare light windproof as an extra core layer (Not a lot of use I suppose but he refused to take my overshoes and scullcap) but I had nothing else to help and rode with him to his house to make sure he was OK. We made it and OK and his wife was home but my God he looked misserable. (The wife was sympathetic while I was there but I do wonder how long this lasted.)

Said he didn't think it was that bad when he left home!

fossyant

jds_1981 wrote:

I'm not entirely convinced on the muscles/knees getting cold. If you're cycling at a reasonable pace then surely they're going to be fairly warm & if they weren't then you'd be well on your way to hypothermia with your blood pumping around?

If my thighs get cooled I can't keep the power down, so I use thermal tights in winter with air blocker material over knees and thighs. Work a treat.

davis

Coach H wrote:

Did 30 miles this morning by Lincolnshires east coast with the wind comming straight off the North Sea.
Wrapped up warm but my nose and cheeks were properly cold when I spotted a mountain biker wearing a well vented helmet, a pair of baggies and vented shoes. Even for someone on the dark side this seemed mental.

As I passed him I commented on the cold and he admitted that he was in trouble from the cold and was still 10 miles from home. I gave him by spare light windproof as an extra core layer (Not a lot of use I suppose but he refused to take my overshoes and scullcap) but I had nothing else to help and rode with him to his house to make sure he was OK. We made it and OK and his wife was home but my God he looked misserable. (The wife was sympathetic while I was there but I do wonder how long this lasted.)

Said he didn't think it was that bad when he left home!

You, sir, are a gent.

fossyant

I see a 'fixie' rider most mornings (rare in my part of South Manchester though until I go near the city). He was in shorts again this morning. Mental.

Coach H

davis wrote:

You, sir, are a gent.

Thank you.

I do think (hope) most people would have done the same had they seen the state of him, I've seen cooked lobsters that are not as red as this guys legs! If I had rode on I would only have spent the day wondering if he was OK. When I picked him up it was on a little used back road and he was talking about stopping for a bit which would likely resulted in Hypothermia. All I did was keep him riding, try to shelter him from the wind a bit and go to his home, which was not that far out of my way. I bet the 45-50 mins it took to get there felt a lot longer for him than me though!!

Coach H

fossyant wrote:

I see a 'fixie' rider most mornings (rare in my part of South Manchester though until I go near the city). He was in shorts again this morning. Mental.

Some of them are worse than the springy farm gate brigade. There is one in my town who rides a Spesh Singlecross (fixed) who is still in shorts and I live on the North Sea coast.

rick_chasey

Coach H wrote:

davis wrote:

You, sir, are a gent.

Thank you.

I do think (hope) most people would have done the same had they seen the state of him, I've seen cooked lobsters that are not as red as this guys legs! If I had rode on I would only have spent the day wondering if he was OK. When I picked him up it was on a little used back road and he was talking about stopping for a bit which would likely resulted in Hypothermia. All I did was keep him riding, try to shelter him from the wind a bit and go to his home, which was not that far out of my way. I bet the 45-50 mins it took to get there felt a lot longer for him than me though!!

We've all been in situations like that once or twice. I've had a guy help me out big time when I was dangerously hungry with a good 60km still to ride.

I've yet to come across someone in a similar state to help (and I always ask just in case!)

Paul E

I always keep my knee's warm, if they get cold they let me know in no uncertain terms, you have fluid in your knees that likes and expects to be working at body temp, if it isn't then it's going to thicken and not protect your joint as much.

bails87

I wore roubaix bib tights with 3/4 bibs over the top this morning, along with baggy shorts, a wicking baselayer, merino wool top and windproof softshell, Spesh Defrosters and buff over my ears. And my big green mittens

I was actually pretty comfortable, my body was probably a bit too warm, but that kept my extremeties warm. I think I must have been colder than I thought on the ride home on Tuesday because I absolutely hated it, it's only the second commute I've done where I've got home and thought "Thanks god that's over". The other one was when I was riding into a 40mph gusting headwind!

PBo

davis wrote:

Coach H wrote:

Did 30 miles this morning by Lincolnshires east coast with the wind comming straight off the North Sea.
Wrapped up warm but my nose and cheeks were properly cold when I spotted a mountain biker wearing a well vented helmet, a pair of baggies and vented shoes. Even for someone on the dark side this seemed mental.

As I passed him I commented on the cold and he admitted that he was in trouble from the cold and was still 10 miles from home. I gave him by spare light windproof as an extra core layer (Not a lot of use I suppose but he refused to take my overshoes and scullcap) but I had nothing else to help and rode with him to his house to make sure he was OK. We made it and OK and his wife was home but my God he looked misserable. (The wife was sympathetic while I was there but I do wonder how long this lasted.)

Said he didn't think it was that bad when he left home!

You, sir, are a gent.

absolutely - fair play to you!!

where were you, skeggie? (i'm a Meggie by birth....) I once walked home on new years eve with a wind wipping in off the north sea. even my cousins from minnesota were cold!!!

PBo

btw did I miss the memo that said "mental" was ok for polite use again???? It's really become very common, but I seem to remember as a child in the late 70s/early 80s, that I was always being told off for using mental (and spassy, and joey) as an insult.....