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I deal with this at least once a week. Yesterday I was going 18km and hour with a heart rate of 175bpm (normally that's 35+). I get on the drops on my bar to reduce my wind profile. I try to stay on less busy streets (normally I'm out in the farm area) because the side gusts will cause swerving. Pay very close attention to what's behind you b/c of swerving. ...

The most important thing is to make sure your core temperature is high enough. As your body begins to chill, it pulls blood away from the extremities, to maintain its core temp. Often times cyclists will think "my core temperature feels fine, but my hands are cold" so they think they need warmer gloves, when in reality they need another ...

The answer to this question is different if you are going on a long-distance tour rather than going-to-work-and-back. If on tour and facing the prospect of a struggle to do 30 miles when you really wanted to get 100 miles in (e.g. to get to next camp-site) it can be a better idea to not bother, sit out the wind and have a go later that day/evening or the ...

Some suggestions: Stay in lower gears and cycle at a higher cadence. Using lower gear will help you to maintain momentum when hit by gust full on, and to retain control when hit by crosswind gust. Keep a low profile Avoid baggy clothes Find a cycling partner and share slip streaming

Look for gloves made with a Windstopper material. I have some pretty thin gloves made with this and stay warmer then my thicker gloves because they stop the wind so well. You may want to look at lighter weight running gloves made with this as I find them a little more pliable. Most I have seen are not waterproof though.

TLDR; assuming my calculations below are correct, there's roughly a 10% increase in air resistance between hot, humid days, and warm, dry days. Add in a slight but imperceptible tailwind or headwind, and it's conceivable that you could experience a 4–5mph difference in cruising speed between two days. Air resistance is the primary force a cyclist must ...

Basically whatever works. If you're trying to conserve energy it's foolish to push yourself going downhill, since energy lost per mile to wind resistance increases with the square of speed -- just take advantage of the "free ride" on a reasonably steep hill. Going uphill depends a lot on your physical condition and how steep the hill. You first need to ...

They'll never provide as much insulation as ski gloves, on their own - they're not designed to. They're intended to block the wind (so minimising the convection heat loss due to high airflow) but still allow you to breathe (which implies you still get the heat loss due to evaporation). A wicking/insulating liner underneath will add some straight insulation ...

I do my best to tack. Kind of like a sail boat. For example If I'm riding in the city and the winds are from the south I'll ride a mile or so south and then head east for a block or so to catch a break, head south for a mile or so and then head west a bit to catch a break. It sure lengthens the ride but it can be good to get the short recovery periods. If ...

You can get explicit cycling knee warmers - I have a pair of these which see a lot of use (and sometimes go under jeans, very comfortably, if I'm out of an evening too). They are great for the morning commutes where it is cold but likely to be warmer by the time of the return journey, but also for the longer rides where you start colder than you'll finish ...

As you have guessed, it is better to work harder on the uphill and rest on the downhill. And as others have mentioned, whatever works for you on the uphill in terms of balancing high cadence and mashing is best. However, there are a few guidelines that you can follow to approach each situation in the most efficient manner possible. Downhill: Since wind ...

I'm a commuter who has to carry things like books, a notebook, food for the day, bike lock, etc. I should say that it makes a striking difference whether you carry stuff on your back or on a bike rack -- a heavy bike is not as bad as a heavy backpack, in other words. Another thing that I've noticed is that my performance decreases if I ride five days a week ...

Probably you are looking for bar mitts (pogies). HOWEVER -- until recently I wanted to buy them, 4 months ago I had a nasty accident in comfortable conditions, just pure bad luck, that's all. From that point on I said "no" to any device that attaches me to the bicycle -- the reason is, in case of accident it is a split of the second, when you can fall on ...

I use a combination of a single earbud (currently Sennheiser CX380s) with a head band (I've 3 Assos headbands in rotation: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?PartnerID=79&ModelID=38937). The headband both stops the sweat rolling into the eyes but also routes the wind around the ear. (I do generally wear a lid, so the headband doesn't look ...

I commute (cycle) for 60 minutes each way. I wear summer (thin and fingerless) cycling gloves in temperatures down to about 40F (5C). At 50F (10C) I'm wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and short pants, as well. I'm totally relying on the extra heat I generate (from exercise) to stay warm. You must adjust your clothing to match, not only the outside ...

Some factors that affect day to day athletic performance are: the degree to which your muscles have recovered from previous strenuous work. It is impossible to push the pace everyday, and hit a consistent performance level. Day to day consistent performance is only possible (far) less than maximal effort. symptom-free infections. It's possible for your ...

On high humidity days, the air has less mass due to the more H2O, which is lighter than typical O2, CO2 and N2 weights. On high pressure days there is more mass for you to push aside. Air temperature also plays a part - hot air is less dense than cold air. Therefore a hot, low pressure, high humidity day requires less mass to be pushed aside. These make a ...

IF my hills are in the 4% or greater category, it is always going to take me longer to get up than to come back down. Example, a hill I ride frequently is about 4 - 5% and I ride it at about 7-8 mph and it takes me ~7 minutes to get up there. If I ride back down the same hill, I easily maintain 23-24 MPH and it takes me about 3-4 minutes to get down. If I ...

I guess you may be working on the assumption that you have a total amount of energy for your ride and you choose which parts of the ride to use it on, or when to use it most quickly. Perhaps you suspect that, due to the lower wind resistance, you're better off spending more energy going uphill at the cost of needing to relax on the downhill? Consider the ...

It seems as though you have a different tolerance for cold than the "average" rider. This can be caused by a lot of different things. For example, I frequently notice the difference between myself and others since most of the state is very warm (Phoenix, Tucson, etc, where 75f is coat weather), while I am acclimated in an area where 60f is a nice day. As ...

I use a pair of the basic Apple ear buds that came with my iPod Shuffle for riding. I've found that they put out "ok" quality sound (not as good as my Sennheisers), but the open-air design of them lets a lot of road noise through, as well. I can hear almost any car coming up behind me (including hybrids), and can hear about 90% of the bicycles coming up to ...

If you check any local outdoor retailer(basspro shop,cabellas,ems,dicks sporting goods) etc.They sell chemical hand warmers.They are basically a pouch filled with iron filings that heats as the pouch is exposed to the air.They will last about 10 hours(ride to work and ride home time for most of us).They cost about one dollar US. Place the pouch on the back ...

It depends on the hills and your fitness. Assuming that your fitness is excellent and the hills mild, you would want to put out constant effort at your maximum that you could sustain without tiring out. You would maintain constant cadence and torque by shifting gears up and down as needed. On the other hand, If the hill is steep and long relative to your ...

I wear MEC Roubaix Tights down to about -10c and haven't had any problems with my legs or knees getting cold. The front and backs are made of different materials so the front of your legs stay warm because they stop the wind, and you legs stay cool (not sweating hot) because the backs are breathable and let the heat generated by your muscles out. I'm on my ...

One option I don't yet see between the excellent answers above is this: If you have fixed the wind issue you still lose a lot of heat in your hands through your handlebars. The rubber grip usually provides some insulation, but the metal of your handlebars is highly heat-conductive and constantly getting cooled by the entire bike. So in cold weather you are ...

First off, get some "glove liners". These are thin polypro gloves that go under other gloves, either regular cycling gloves or heaver winter gloves. They provide an extra layer of insulation, and, in addition, you can remove the outer gloves and leave on the glove liners while working on the bike -- they're thin enough that they don't interfere with ...

There have been excellent answers already, and I agree with most of them, specially the physiology of Prototoast, the pros/cons pointed by Macias, and the windstopping need pointed by Glenn (+1 for them). I have used some gloves which were terrible, although thick, because they don't stop the wind. Thick knitted gloves are the perfect example. Currently, ...

You might want to look at this before deciding to ride with earphones. You could always wear a hat that covers your ears to block the wind. I think that most in-ear phones will be affected by wind, maybe you could try some over-the-ears types.