Is riding in cold weather harder than usual?

rodgers73

I've been told your lungs don't work as well as when its warm so anything done now is therefore harder than in milder weather.

Is there anything to this?

thistle_

rodgers73 wrote:

I've been told your lungs don't work as well as when its warm so anything done now is therefore harder than in milder weather.

Is there anything to this?

I don't follow your logic - if your lungs work better when cold then surely anything you do now is easier than in milder weather?

I think there was a similar thread a month or so ago but I can't find it. Weight of extra clothing and using energy to keep warm makes it more difficult in the cold.

team47b

air or rider density affects ability

rodgers73

rodgers73 wrote:

I've been told your lungs don't work as well as when its warm so anything done now is therefore harder than in milder weather.

Is there anything to this?

Apologies - should have said:

I've been told your lungs don't work as well as when its COLD so anything done now is therefore harder than in milder weather.

Is there anything to this?

dodgy

No idea about the lungs, but colder air is definitely more dense. I've seen figures that show that there's an approximate 1mph speed benefit when riding at 20 DegsC compared to around 2C.

danlikesbikes

In theory you are correct that the lungs work less as well in cold weather, though testing to date has predominantly been undertaken in extreme cold weather.

Lung efficiency is reduced due to increased moisture loss when breathing out following the bodies react to colder air coming in and heating up upon exit.

However as with all testing there is some uncertainty as to how much difference it makes as the body being the amazing machine it is adapts to the cold fairly quickly & as long as you up your fluid intake to account for the increase loss of fluids and avoid dehydration. Plus with sensible clothing choices your avoiding the chance of hypothermia & pneumonia.

You will see a benefit simply due to the harder work you need to undertake the same exercise in colder air, however again it depends on how often you do this, what the temperature difference is from your normal riding etc

Plus there are the psychological effects which are harder to prove/disprove but I do tend to find that if your train in such conditions you are desensitising yourself too it and therefore less worried about. Or as others might say your are just MTFU'ing.

rodgers73

Yep, cold doesn't really bother me much much any more.

thegibdog

rodgers73 wrote:

rodgers73 wrote:

I've been told your lungs don't work as well as when its warm so anything done now is therefore harder than in milder weather.

Is there anything to this?

Apologies - should have said:

I've been told your lungs don't work as well as when its COLD so anything done now is therefore harder than in milder weather.

Is there anything to this?

I think you were right the first time.

Herbsman

No harder than using the search function.

team47b

clearly it is.