How do you stay warm on club rides?
drwae
Posts: 223
I hope this won't be an issue for much longer due to the spring coming shortly. But I'm really struggling with warmth on club rides, I can go out alone at my own pace with a base layer + short sleeve jersey and stay warm enough, for the club rides I wear base layer + alpha jacket + estremo gloves but the club rides are at a speed where I only briefly warm up when doing the climbs above 8% or so and we all end up splitting up and doing it at our own speed. For the gentle gradients and flat, I find that I get freezing and the worst part is my fingers go completely numb and I can't operate my shifters any more.
I have taken to going on a few km ahead and waiting at a junction to warm up but I would prefer not to be antisocial.
I have taken to going on a few km ahead and waiting at a junction to warm up but I would prefer not to be antisocial.
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Assuming this is not a wind-up - just wear more kit on the club rides.0
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Good imput there from captain pointless.
OP, all I can suggest (as you obviously have decent gear) is a down gillet under your jacket that can trap warm air and keep your toros warm as that'll help pump warm blood to the extremities.
Also try some thin ski gloves as they again trap warm air rather than skin tight cycling ones. I guess that on group rides at the pace you speak of aero isn't that much of a consideration.Advocate of disc brakes.0 -
Not a wind-up. I suffer from this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raynaud_syndrome and even with liner gloves and castelli estremo gloves (rated to -5C; the warmest gloves I know of) my fingers lose all feeling when I'm not pushing myself, then I can't operate the shifters any more to shift to the large ring in the front or to larger sprockets in the rear.
I have also tried wearing a winter jersey under my winter jacket, so I have: merino wool base layer, adidas supernova jersey, castelli alpha jacket. and I still get cold because I'm not exerting myself enough.0 -
homers double wrote:Good imput there from captain pointless.
OP, all I can suggest (as you obviously have decent gear) is a down gillet under your jacket that can trap warm air and keep your toros warm as that'll help pump warm blood to the extremities.
Also try some thin ski gloves as they again trap warm air rather than skin tight cycling ones. I guess that on group rides at the pace you speak of aero isn't that much of a consideration.
Says the guy who makes exactly the same suggestion as me, but in a considerably more verbose manner. You do the 'irony' thing pretty well, fair play.0 -
drwae wrote:Not a wind-up. I suffer from this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raynaud_syndrome and even with liner gloves and castelli estremo gloves (rated to -5C; the warmest gloves I know of) my fingers lose all feeling when I'm not pushing myself, then I can't operate the shifters any more to shift to the large ring in the front or to larger sprockets in the rear.
Ok, you didn't mention that earlier. So it's not just a case of wearing more kit. Presumably you've seen your GP? There are treatments available for serious cases. I also get Raynauds, but only when I stop riding, which is weird, but doesn't really give me an issue, as I never get it while riding.0 -
You say you get warm enough when riding at your own pace, so I think the only real solution is to find a faster club ride. Is that a possibility?0
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+1 on finding a faster club ride.0
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It is an interesting issue and affects us skinny whippets a lot. I am a pensioner and get cold very easily if i am not riding at my optimum speed. Going out with a slower group as leader or helper or just because and with constant stopping to 'regroup' means it is hard to warm up and stay warm. Getting clothing right is quite difficult.
You could always do a zwift group ride sweat fest!0 -
Make your bike heavier / harder to ride so that you put some more effort in whilst staying with the bunch.~~~~~~Sustrans - Join the Movement~~~~~~0
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There's no chance of finding a faster club ride due to there being only one club in my area, and one ride that has all abilities and is usually led at a speed of around 20-22km/h on the flat/up to 2% and then dropping off from there.
When we get some steep hills it feels more acceptable to power it up to the top and wait up there, because everyone sort of splits up a bit as some people are only going up at 10km/h, but doing that on the flatter sections feels quite antisocial which defeats the purpose of going on the club rides in the first place (for the social aspect).0 -
Imposter wrote:homers double wrote:Good imput there from captain pointless.
OP, all I can suggest (as you obviously have decent gear) is a down gillet under your jacket that can trap warm air and keep your toros warm as that'll help pump warm blood to the extremities.
Also try some thin ski gloves as they again trap warm air rather than skin tight cycling ones. I guess that on group rides at the pace you speak of aero isn't that much of a consideration.
Says the guy who makes exactly the same suggestion as me, but in a considerably more verbose manner. You do the 'irony' thing pretty well, fair play.
Not aimed at you Imposter, I was refering to RC.Advocate of disc brakes.0 -
homers double wrote:Imposter wrote:homers double wrote:Good imput there from captain pointless.
OP, all I can suggest (as you obviously have decent gear) is a down gillet under your jacket that can trap warm air and keep your toros warm as that'll help pump warm blood to the extremities.
Also try some thin ski gloves as they again trap warm air rather than skin tight cycling ones. I guess that on group rides at the pace you speak of aero isn't that much of a consideration.
Says the guy who makes exactly the same suggestion as me, but in a considerably more verbose manner. You do the 'irony' thing pretty well, fair play.
Not aimed at you Imposter, I was refering to RC.
Apologies H-D, I was a bit quick to react there.
Although to be fair, I think Rick's point is equally valid, given what we now know.0 -
No offence taken and I sort of agree with your second point however rereading the OP's posts it seems he's way out off the front anyway.Advocate of disc brakes.0
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I feel the cold but it doesn't sound to the same extent that you do. I run deep winter gloves with a marino thin base glove under them and a the rapha insulated brevet gillet over a costelli thermosuit thing. Plus an underarmour cold gear base layer.
That sees me warm to temps where I'm not going outside (just above freezing in my case).0 -
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In all seriousness, on the rare occasion this does happen (mainly in the wet, and then there's the spray to consider too), I will deliberately ride more often on the front and even up the pace a bit to keep warm.0
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His mates need to think long and hard about their own fitness and ability to ride a bike at all.
Some hard talking and a few home truths need to be said.0 -
If I go to the front and up the pace no one bothers to keep up with me, even the club leaders (that lead the rides) are perfectly capable of keeping up but they hang back so everyone can keep up with themRick Chasey wrote:In all seriousness, on the rare occasion this does happen (mainly in the wet, and then there's the spray to consider too), I will deliberately ride more often on the front and even up the pace a bit to keep warm.
Also if there's been a hill and we're waiting for the people at the back to catch up, once they have caught up we don't go again, we're standing around for 15 minutes talking and I'm just standing there shivering cause it's bloody freezing in February0 -
Macho posturing aside, and assuming that you want to carry on riding socially rather than being an arse as suggested by JGSI*, what about using hand and foot warmers? My wife has Raynaud's and uses these when we're skiing. https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Womens-Arm-W ... B000YF3DUA for instance. Worth trying different brands as some work, and some...don't. You'll need gloves with a bit of space in them (the warmer is best placed above the back of the hand, but you need to heat up the air in the glove). Feet will be trickier when cycling - perhaps some lace-up shoes would let you put the warmer under the tongue on the top of the foot. Also get some neoprene overshoes, obviously, and some warm socks (e.g. woolie boolies).
* This is a f%$£king hobby. A pastime. Races are available; he's not in them.0 -
Thank you, I think I will try something like that. I do use overshoes but mainly it's my hands affected, I don't care as much about my toes but when my fingers go numb then I can't shift gear which is obviously a problem.964Cup wrote:Macho posturing aside, and assuming that you want to carry on riding socially rather than being an ars* as suggested by JGSI*, what about using hand and foot warmers? My wife has Raynaud's and uses these when we're skiing. https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Womens-Arm-W ... B000YF3DUA for instance. Worth trying different brands as some work, and some...don't. You'll need gloves with a bit of space in them (the warmer is best placed above the back of the hand, but you need to heat up the air in the glove). Feet will be trickier when cycling - perhaps some lace-up shoes would let you put the warmer under the tongue on the top of the foot. Also get some neoprene overshoes, obviously, and some warm socks (e.g. woolie boolies).
* This is a f%$£king hobby. A pastime. Races are available; he's not in them.
Re the doctor I'm not willing to take drugs every day just because my fingers go numb. its not more than an inconvenience really
No macho posturing, I'm slow and if there was a selection of rides available I'd be somewhere near the bottom group probably. It's just the club rides are even slower
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Why don't you take the initiative and suggest splitting the ride so that there is a slightly faster group and a slightly slower group and see if you get any takers. You could then ride at a faster pace, extend the faster group ride slightly and still meet up with the slower group at the designated tea-stop. Maybe ride the first few miles after as one group before splitting faster/slower groups for the last part of the ride?0
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They ride at is usually led at a speed of around 20-22km/h ?
Where are you based ? This sounds like the OAP ride at my club - its all jolly nice in the summer but not so much in the winter.
Its a very slow pace for a club ride. It's doing you no favours so you'd be better off by yourself or looking for another club if possible.0 -
You could always turn around at the top of the hill? descend and climb it again, to save hanging around at the top?Paracyclist
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Fenix wrote:They ride at is usually led at a speed of around 20-22km/h ?
Where are you based ? This sounds like the OAP ride at my club - its all jolly nice in the summer but not so much in the winter.
Its a very slow pace for a club ride. It's doing you no favours so you'd be better off by yourself or looking for another club if possible.
oi.!
This is a f%$£king hobby. A pastime. Races are available; he's not in them
apparently
Why do people on here get so wound up by alternative suggestions?
OP gave absolutely no clue as to his basic ability on a bike in his initial posts.
You can keep absolutely fine and toasty with a ride average of 16/17 mph .. thats not an impossibility is it to find a few of you to cope with that.. is it ?0 -
JGSI wrote:His mates need to think long and hard about their own fitness and ability to ride a bike at all.
Some hard talking and a few home truths need to be said.
Or just suggest having an A group and a B group...0 -
Why not make it harder work for yourself? Let some air out of your tyres, add some weight to the bike (a few chains down the seat tube, water bottles full of nuts & bolts) or use those foam punccture proof tyres with a higher rolling resistance. Why not have a seperate heavier bike for club rides, with knobbly tyres and a big heavy saddle bag?
There's a GCN video on the internet somewhere where they filled their inner tubes with water to make it harder work.....~~~~~~Sustrans - Join the Movement~~~~~~0 -
I've been using Hot Hands Hand Warmers and Hot Hands Foot Warmers this winter after spotting them on special offer in Tesco. They're pretty cheap and will easily last for the duration of a club run. I find the hand warmers more effective; the foot warmers do make a difference but you need to make sure you have enough room in your shoes so you don't restrict the blood flow.
For my feet I've found getting winter boots rather than overshoes have made a big difference, get them a size too big and wear them with some thick ski socks.0 -
Drop off the back, sprint back on ..... drop off the back, sprint back on ...... do this a few time and watcfh you core temp go through the roof.
the down side being, a bit later on in the ride you cant keep up any more as your legs are screwed .... but that's also a good way of keeping warm0 -
I find being a bit of a fat bastard helps keep me warm. Saves a lot of money on winter clothing too.
I cook in the summer, but swings and roundabouts.0
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