How to Ride a Bike in Cold Weather

Learn how to ride a bike in cold weather from racer Alexander Barouh in this Howcast road cycling video.


Properly dressing for cold weather riding is very important. You could
go for a three to six hour ride in 30 degree weather and you want to make
sure that your extremities as well as your core stay warm the whole

Usually you're going to walk outside and what you want to be is a
little cold as you walk outside. So you don't want to dress exactly for
the weather. Riding your bike, like any other exercise, is going to
generate heat. It's going to keep you warm. So you don't want to find
yourself 20 minutes into your ride overheating. The goal is for your
first five minutes or so to actually be a little cold. That's going to
indicate that you've probably dressed properly.

Another good tip is to carry on extra set of glove liners or an extra set of sock liners. A really good liner is a silk liner. I find that having a silk liner over
a nice thick glove keeps you really, really warm during the February and
March rides.

In the winter, I dress to stay warm for six hour rides with long
underwear as well as warm wool socks, silk liners, a number of shells.
You want to have windproof shells as well as a wool cap. I've found
that pairing all these things together keeps me warm for a long period
of time.

Pretty much every other aspect of riding your bicycle is exactly the
same. Just make sure you dress warmly, layer up, and make sure you
don't overheat.

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