It is a dry cold in SW Georgia

Layered up for the morning commute
On cold mornings I am always inspired to ride my bike "after" I am on it and about 5 miles away from home.  For me the hardest part of a bike commute on a cold morning is getting out of the door.  By now I have many thousands of bike commuting miles behind me and still the temptation to stay in bed is alive.

So my automatic pilot kicks in and I start to get ready for a cold ride.  I start to layer up my gear. The outside temperature at my house was 34 degrees when I checked it.  This tells me that out on the road it is 10 degrees colder so I know I will wear my extra layer on my legs. I know my legs rarely get cold during a winter ride, but my concern is that during a long ride I do not want my legs to loose warmth and cramp up.

Here is what I wore today.  I had on a base layer athletic short sleeve shirt, Castelli Nanoflex Bib Tights, BCC Zombie Raccoon Top, Castelli Nanoflex Arm Warmers, Castelli Nanoflex Leg Warmers, REI light weight wind breaker and my ShowerPass Elite. Topped it off with a Buff and Under Armor balaclava and my helmet cover.

My 25 mile commute takes me between 90 and 105 minutes.  Today I was happy to be able to ride to work on a Friday without it being cold and rainy.  Next week may be the first bike commute of the new year with rain, but for now I will be happy with just the cold.


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