What's the coldest temp you'll train outside in?

[fromtrektocolnago]

Winter riding doesn't bother me, however once the cold drops I don't ride as aggressively and my training declines. Also I do adjust my ride times to the cold. On the coldest days when it's in the 20's(f) my ride is basically capped at 30-40 miles, as compared to warmer times of the year where I prefer to do 70-100 miles. On cold days, I also tend to ride slower.

[Geoff]

The real issue isn't the cold, it is the road conditions and visibility. No training is worth getting smoked by an F-350 (either being struck whilst riding, or falling in-front of a vehicle). If the roads are clear, our winters are so dry that -20 is pretty bearable if it is sunny out. Normally, my cut-off is -10, but only because that was the Team cut-off from when I was racing.

Odd discussion for the start of summer

[Omiar]

I don't ride below -5C and I only ride MTB.
Why -5C: I don't like to breathe in that cold air and given the high number of asthmatics I've seen in the ranks of cross country skaters ...
Why MTB: We don't have a stable weather and road conditions, so I consider public roads too dangerous. Also riding on snow with MTB is a lot of fun and eliminates the wind chill.
Staying over -5 allows to use very basic gear. I do use thin plastic to cover shoes, good and cheap and I can use cheap overshoes given that they don't last very long.

We also did late night riding with a bunch of 8-12 people this year, when it was completely dark. Zero visibility without proper lightning. It was cool to see 10 guys riding in a line up a hill with everyone having their rear red led blinking.

[zirxo]

I love to go out and ride a couple of hours in the winter when the snow and sun is out. It's magical.
Always at a low intensity with a café stop somewhere along the ride. Got some nice graver roads here in the outskirts of Stockholm that's really nice to ride on during the winter. No traffic allowed on them.

[nathanong87]

ride, 32F for 4-5 hours
train, like intervals....probably high 40s. below high 40s and legs too cold to do intensity. Would rather hook up the ergo and do a session.
under 32F my hands and feet (no matter the amount of assos and clothing, go numb super fast....sigh)

[KWalker]

I've gone down into the teens F (I think 12 or 13) and it was doable, but not fun. It too an extremely long time to get dressed, bottles froze, and I found that it just wasn't very enjoyable. Even the upper 20's are OK if no wind, but below 20F and I would rather watch a movie and do 4hrs on the rollers than go outside.

As for workouts since those are shorter my general rule is that time to get dressed and prepare cannot take longer than finding a TV show or movie to watch and setting the rollers up. Like Nate said, it can be really tough to warm up and even then such temps usually mean wind, snow, or crap road conditions.

[nobuseri]

I've ridden in temps as cold as the low 20's Fahrenheit and with wind chill far colder. If you are dressed properly the cold is not an impediment. What stops me is not the cold, but ice and snow on the road.

I probably fit this same bucket. Problem for me is finding cycling (not even aero?) clothing that fits properly. Tall rider at 78in.

I usually suffer and suck it up. Group rides make it more of a bearable experience; so, at those temps it's most likely not solo.

coldest i've ridden in this year has been around 28 F with wind chill factor of 22 F. my limit is actually about 30F. like others have said, ice and snow is really the culprit at those temps. i use aluminum foil under my footbed (trimmed and shaped to size) which helps keep the cold from the feet. wrap some excess up around toes. interesting using cling wrap on shoes, thx Tapeworm...i'll have to try that when its that cold out to see if it helps keep the wind out. i wear merino socks as well, so moisture build up shouldn't be too back.

I am taking notes. I will try these tips this coming off season. Thanks!

@nobuseri
I have a similar issue - which winter jersey and bibtights do you use ?

For really cold conditions, I use a polartec tight base layer with a gore oxygen thermal bib tight. Top, usually a base layer compression with a Pearl Izumi Forest jacket. Mainly my hands and feet are cold. Forest jacket, as with most, are not long enough (arm length) in riding positions. Usually wear gloves with a longer gauntlet.

[synchronicity]

I've ridden with -18 Celsius when I used to be a bike messenger.

I think you win!
I don't even think I've ever been in colder than +1°C... without the bike.

[Tom14]

I've ridden with -18 Celsius when I used to be a bike messenger.

I think you win!
I don't even think I've ever been in colder than +1°C... without the bike.

I live in Holland, it can be pretty darn cold here.

[mattr]

My record is starting an mtb night ride at -14, got back to the car and it'd dropped to -18 I think.
Have had a nasty surprise when out road riding in daylight at about -5, every time the sun dipped behind anything (trees, ridge, hillside) the temperature dipped enough that I got sheets of ice forming on my clothing!
When the sun finally went down I found that I was significantly under dressed.

[seaneT1]

The coldest for me in training would be around -5, but the worst for me came when racing in the spring...for a week the temperature was above 16 and sunny so at the race day we wore the summer team outfit and no long sleeves or jackets...but suddenly heavy rain and temperature drop bellow 6...and the worst part was that the race started on a descent...but everyone survived , and since then I learnt that if you feel cold, GO HARDER! the tempo in winter!

[dmulligan]

I've commuted as low as -18c. I want to go lower still!

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[jadekim]

I'm afraid i hate cold.
If i got feel low temp i can't ride. ;(
I want to be a strong for temp...

[Tqubed]

I have gear for almost any conditions but my coldest rides have been just above freezing. One particularly miserable group ride was just above freezing with a few inches of rain.


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[grouk]

here in Portugal is not too cold, 0ºC in the winter is the minimum. but that 0º could make serious damages, short story
a few days ago on a Saturday ride me and a friend left home with 17º 1 hour later in the city at the bottom of the moutain 10º, start climb in the half of the climb at about 800 meters cross the clouds start rain, in the top of the moutain at 1300 meters 4ºc, we began the descent... man it was horrible , it was the worst experience I've had on a bike after 4 kms we stopped at a cafe and we were completely hypothermia, we can not continue and had to call home

so it's not required too cold to go wrong, get wet bad clothes