Riding in a Winter Wonderland

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by David Cohen
Maryland National Capital Park Police Reserve Unit

Public safety is a line of work which requires and encourages continuous training. Yet for many public safety cyclists, once the weather starts turning cold, the bikes get put away. We set them aside for a variety of reasons, such as a lack of personal comfort, reduced need (if our patrol areas attract less activity, for instance), or if our equipment isn’t quite up for the task. As we get older, our tolerance for the cold seems to decline as well. However, riding and training under adverse conditions will make you a more effective rider in more temperate conditions.

When I am on a bike, whether on duty or off, I always approach it as an opportunity to train. Now that I am past 50 years old, maintaining a high level of fitness requires a far more consistent schedule of exercise than when I was in my 20s and 30s, so I try to avoid long intervals between rides. This translates into biking year-round, regardless of the outside temperature. With what appears to be an increase in weather extremes, you may find yourself operating in adverse conditions during periods you do not normally associate with those conditions. For instance, last April, our department worked a large community detail in temperatures that started out below freezing. I certainly did not expect the weather in Maryland to be so cold in early April, but because I had become acclimated during my winter training, I was able to operate my bicycle effectively.

There are considerable health benefits to cold weather exercise. Because your body has to work harder in colder weather, it burns more calories. The body will convert unhealthy white fat cells to the beige fat cells, which are metabolically active to produce heat. Maintaining your fitness during the winter also means you have less “catching up” to do once the temperatures start to rise. Besides, it is always beneficial to exercise. As my doctor once told me – simplifying matters, I’m sure – “moving blood doesn’t clot”.

In addition, some studies suggest that outdoor exercise alleviates the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder and helps you think more clearly. There is no doubt it will make you more alert; a ride in subfreezing temperatures will wake you up better than the strongest coffee!

Layer Up!

Comfort is the key to cold-weather riding. Wearing multiple thin layers is more effective than fewer, thicker layers. Again, as I’ve aged, I found I wear more layers (or heavier layers) at various temperature points than I did when I was younger. Everyone is different, and everyone seems to have a different definition of “cold”, so the most important things are to feel comfortable and to be able to move freely. You don’t want to end up like Ralphie’s brother in A Christmas Story!

For the upper body, I am a big fan of Under Armour® products and usually select the ColdGear® crew shirt as my base layer for sub-40 degree (about 5 Celsius) temperatures. It is both comfortable and durable. When temperatures dip below 28 degrees (sub-zero Celsius), I don an Under Armour HeatGear® crew as a base layer under the ColdGear shirt. Then I layer on a regular cycling jersey and a windbreaker.

With the legs, I wear standard cycling shorts under leggings. I cover the leggings with Bellwether® rain pants, which act as a windbreaker for your legs. Again, in sub-freezing temps, I wear Under Armour ColdGear long johns under my cycling shorts, leggings and rain pants.

A good pair of winter gloves will usually keep your hands warm down to around freezing. You can double-up by wearing glove liners or nitrile gloves, although those don’t breathe as well. Snowmobile gloves worn with glove liners are very effective for temperatures below 25 degrees (-4 Celsius). Split-finger mittens (a.k.a. “lobster mitts”), which offer the warmth of a mitten without total loss of dexterity, or pogies (mitts that attach to the handlebars into which you insert your gloved hands) are also options.

My feet are usually the hardest part of my body to keep warm. I own an older pair of Lake MXZ winter cycling boots. To help retain heat, I purchased a pair of toe caps for them. Socks are usually a bit tricky because if you wear two pair, you can cut off circulation if your footwear does not have room for double layers. I find wearing thin dress socks as a base layer under a heavier sock generally works. However, my “secret weapon” is plastic freezer bags; just cut off the zip-lock part with a pair of scissors and slide them over your socks for insulation.

You definitely do not want to forget your head. Headbands work well to keep your ears warm, but they leave the top of the helmet open to the cold. My favorite cold weather gear is a cold weather helmet liner, which covers your entire head and ears. It keeps your head nice and toasty down to the freezing mark. At sub-freezing temperatures, I employ a balaclava to cover up my face.

Is Your Bike Ready?

Now that you’re ready, let’s take a look at your bike. With most bikes, components don’t work as well as they normally do. Derailleurs stick, brakes become hard to modulate, shocks stiffen, and lubricants thicken. Any fault your bike demonstrates during warm weather, such as a balky shift, will only be exacerbated by the cold. So before you ride, make sure your bike is in a well-tuned condition.

Even the best-tuned bike, however, is likely to develop problems that are beyond your control. One of the most common is that the mineral oil in hydraulic-equipped brakes tends to get thicker. This can result in air bubbles in the lines, making it necessary to pump the brakes to get full power, or a very sluggish response.

Some mountain bikers who ride frequently in sub-freezing conditions will purge the mineral oil from their brake systems and replace it with DOT 5 brake fluid for automobiles. Personally, I would not recommend this, as brake fluid is far more corrosive and toxic than mineral oil.

I once read that a poll of mountain bikers revealed that the majority own an old hardtail that they just can’t seem to part with. I am certainly no exception. The good news is that you can justify the space in your bike storage area if you ride in cold weather; old school components tend to be a bit more cold-proof than a lot of newer ones. My “old hardtail” is a 2001 Trek 8500. It has an eight-speed drivetrain, cable-actuated disc brakes and an elastomer-type shock. The eight-speed drivetrain is superior in many ways to the nine- and ten-speed drivetrains because of the thicker chain, which provides more spread on the rear cassette. That, in turn, translates into more reliable shifting. The cable-actuated brakes are not susceptible to the same issues as hydraulic brakes and will stop effectively under almost any conditions if applied correctly.

I don’t use a winter-specific tire, but I do pay attention to tire pressure. If you inflate your tires to 25 psi indoors, for instance, the tire pressure is going to fall once exposed to colder temperatures. However, the tire casings will be harder in colder conditions, so it ends up being a wash. I equip my “winter bike” with big knobbies, as they tend to shed mud better than the small-knobby tires. While I certainly do not encourage riding in muddy conditions as it causes trail damage, sometimes you have to deal with mudholes.

Over the past few years, “fat bikes” have become popular for winter riding. These “fatties” have tremendously oversized tires with wide footprints and do well in muddy and snowy conditions. The downside is that the rolling resistance of those huge tires makes them very sluggish under other conditions. My opinion is that winters in Central Maryland are not severe enough to warrant purchasing a fat bike, but if you live in a climate with considerably more snow, it may be something worth considering.

Getting Started

The first thing you may notice is that on hills which you typically ride in middle gears, you may have to ride in lower gears. This is perfectly normal. As the temperature drops, your body loses efficiency and it takes more physical effort to do things. Whatever you do, don’t try to force yourself to run the same gears you do in warm weather. Patience is essential. The object here is to keep your blood circulating, not set personal records or compete with another rider’s profile on Strava.

If you ride on natural surface trails, it is best to get do so in temperatures below freezing, after the ground has hardened. The ride is going to be rough, as imperfections in the ground, such as frozen hoofprints and tire tracks, combined with the slower response of the suspension system, will lead to some bone rattling moments. That’s okay; just take it slowly and look around. You will be amazed at what you can see on wooded trails once the foliage has retreated for the winter.

Even when it is below freezing, the sun can be strong enough to cause the ground to thaw. You can usually tell when this is happening because your ride becomes more spongy, and it can feel like you’re riding in quicksand, limiting your ability to get up speed. Once again, be patient. Trying to go faster over spongy trails usually doesn’t work. Just pick a decent gear and spin your way through it. At some point, though, the trail surface will begin to get “greasy”; that is, the first ½ to 1 inch (1-3 cm) of trail surface gets slick and muddy. When this starts to happen, it is time to exit the trail. I’ve been on too many rides when, upon encountering these conditions, I think, “well, maybe the trail will be better further ahead”. It never is, and besides, you don’t want to negatively impact the trail.

Riding on the road or paved trails during the winter doesn’t change much when the temperature drops (assuming dry conditions). Because you tend to be more exposed to wind, particularly on road rides, it is critical that you dress for the weather conditions. A paved surface will not vary as much as a natural surface, but the body is still less efficient at lower temperatures. The advice remains the same: run lower gears rather than mashing the pedals.

Many municipalities in the mid-Atlantic region dump copious quantities of salt and abrasives on the roadways when snow is threatened. While these abrasives have little impact on automobile tires, they can be very hard on road bike tires, such as the 700 x 23 size. I’ve suffered more flats on my road bike tires in the winter than at any other time. Generally, if abrasives and salt are being applied, the road bike gets put away until a good rain washes them off the road.

If you haven’t been on the bike since temperatures were in the 50s and 60s (10-15 Celsius), it is better to acclimate yourself slowly to the colder temperatures rather than staying out for long periods of time. Start with 15 to 20 minutes and gradually work your way up to longer rides. I generally do not stay out for more than an hour, although sometimes I ride for as long as 90 minutes. In terms of how frequently to ride, my body definitely prefers to have at least one day of rest between rides. In general, I try to ride two or three times per week during the winter whenever conditions allow.

Snow Riding

Winter does lend itself to a style of riding not available during any other time of the year: snow riding. Most bicycles are capable of handling small amounts of snow, usually less than three inches (about eight centimeters). Snow riding is a whole different dimension. The resistance from riding in the snow will give you a very intense workout. It is also an effective way to learn how to ride smoothly, as any abrupt input, whether stomping on a pedal or quickly turning the handlebar, may cause the bike to spin its wheels or slide out.

Low gears are essential for snow riding. Most of the time, I’m on the small chainring and seldom go past the third gear.

Sometimes, in very light accumulations, you can get away with low gears in the middle chainring. Momentum is your friend; once you stop, it is usually difficult to get the bike started again, and it gets progressively more difficult the deeper the snow.

The best part of snow riding is that you don’t necessarily have to be on a natural surface trail. Many municipalities do not remove snow from paved trails, and these lend themselves perfectly to this kind of riding. A common obstacle on paved trails is the frozen footprints of other trail users, which make the ride pretty rough, even if your shock is still responding well.

The greatest hazard of snow riding in particular, but winter riding in general, is ice. Sometimes, if the ice is rough, you can still ride very gingerly across the surface. Minute control inputs – light on the pedals, steady on the handlebars and no brakes – are essential. On glaze ice, all bets are off. There really is no way to ride safely over glaze ice. That said, sometimes, if it is a small patch, you can ride over it and be back on a surface where you have traction by the time the bike starts to slide.

Indoors

Let’s face it: there are going to be days that even the hardiest of winter riders will not be able (or want) to ride, whether it is because of precipitation, high winds, or extremely cold temperatures (my personal limit is 15 degrees/minus nine Celsius). Fortunately, there are indoor options that will keep you on your bike, such as trainers and rollers. There is also a wide variety of stationary bikes, ranging from the basic mechanical spin bike to the technologically sophisticated “smart trainer”, but since those do not entail use of an actual bike, they will not be addressed in this article.

The trainer is a device which you hook up to the rear wheel of your bike and adjust the resistance. You’ll need some kind of block to raise the front end of the bike to level it out. The advantage to the trainer is that you can just happily pedal away. You can also improve your spin by pedaling with one leg while focusing on achieving a smooth cadence. This usually works best with clipless pedals, but any kind of retention works.

Rollers are a like a treadmill for your bike. You set the bike atop the rollers and ride. If you are new at this, it is best to set up in a doorway so you can catch yourself should you lose your balance. The advantages of rollers are that you have to balance on your bike, and it will improve the smoothness of your cadence, as an uneven cadence will lead to “surging” on the rollers. There are some riders who get fancy and will bunny hop on the rollers. I’m not one of them and I really don’t recommend it. You definitely have to pay attention while riding rollers as it is possible to drift off the rollers and crash. Yes, I’ve learned that one the hard way. Few things are more embarrassing than crashing your bike inside your house.

With either a trainer or roller, you want to have a bike with slick tires. If you try to do either with knobby tire bikes, it makes a pretty horrendous sound, like putting baseball cards in your spokes and amplifying it several times over.

Another semi-indoor winter riding activity is to set up indoor cone courses. Usually the easiest way to accomplish this is to ride inside your garage, space permitting, of course. While practicing trackstanding, the dreaded “box” or slaloms won’t provide the kind of cardio workout that you would have riding a trainer or rollers, they will help you maintain or even improve that all-important sense of balance.

Don’t forget your upper body during the winter, either. On the days that I do not ride, I do upper body exercises. Like riding in the winter, I go for more repetitions at lighter weights. While bulk lifting gives you larger muscles and theoretically greater maximum strength, I find that doing more reps at lower weights provides more “usable strength”, the kind you need for the daily activities of life. Fitness experts tend to agree that most people are better off using lighter weights and doing more reps because of the reduced risk of injury associated with pushing heavier weights. Maintaining muscle tone increases in importance as your body ages as it tends to help alleviate some of the aches and pains associated with getting older.

In Closing

It’s easy to become a “couch potato” during the winter. It is cold outside, the days are shorter, and the house is so warm and comfortable. Often, the biggest obstacle to remaining active in cold temperatures is the mental hurdle. Buying the right clothing and equipment is easy, so once you make the decision to head out into the cold, you’ll find that, with the right attitude, cold weather exercise can actually be quite enjoyable.

It is another tool in the public safety cyclists’ training toolbox, and when your regular cycling season returns, you will be able to perform your duties more effectively. And that is what maintaining your fitness throughout the winter is all about!

Photos courtesy David Cohen except as noted.

David Cohen has been a volunteer with the Maryland National Capital Park Police, Montgomery County Division since 2007. When not riding or tinkering with bikes, David restores vintage cars and airplanes. In “real life” he is the CFO for Washington Talent Agency and plays keyboards and saxophones in their bands. He can be reached at onyxsax@aol.com.

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