paulhus@euclid.DEC (Chris Paulhus 223-6871 MLO8-3/T13) (01/04/85)
Keeping Toes Warm I ride down to about 20 deg F. I've found 4 approaches to keeping toes warm. The first two are keep-the-feet-warm: 1. The Bata Wintour bike shoe has a foam insulating layer that really works well in keeping the whole foot warm. 2. If you don't want to give up cleats, the Brancali (sp) over-boot works very well if you use plastic cleats. (I hear that aluminum cleats conduct heat away from your foot noticeably.) 3. The third approach, which should be used in conjunction with 1. or 2. above, is to keep the whole leg very warm. This has two good effects and one bad: The first good effect is to keep warm blood flowing to the feet, keeping them warm. The second is keeping blood flowing by the fragile knees, preventing wear and tear. The bad effect is that all the layers of stuff needed to keep warm restricts your movement. (But this allows a 15 mile ride to have the training effect of a 20 mile ride. Of course, you are using polypropelene [sp?] long-johns under your tights?) 4. As a last resort, you can attack your poor toes with a dusting of stuff called "Fire Feet" sold by Early Winters and other outdoor places. This is a blend of natural mild irritants (same effect as red peppers on your tongue) that causes local irritation to your toes and the response of the capillaries opening and warm blood flowing. It works. I resort to this stuff only for X-country skiing. Non Toes Keeping Warm: Whenever I ride at below freezing, I ride a conventional bike with a Zzipper fairing. It gives you an out-of-the-wind place to hide your hands and it shields much of your torso. Although I bought it for its aerodynamic effect, I treasure it for its protection on cold or rainy days. (Wet hand really suffer normally!) For more info on these topics, I'm giving a workshop at NEAR '85 titled "Cold and Wet Weather Clothing" aimed at cycling and the other sports we cyclists indulge in - hiking, X-country, etc. Watch this space for more NEAR info. N. Chris Paulhus DEC-Maynard (617) 493-6871 decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-euclid!paulhus