When cycling in the winter, keep your face warm

 

Winter, is a cyclist’s favorite season! Cycling is more exciting when it is cooler outside. Being outside is so much fun during cooler weather. A misty morning beckons early birds who want nothing more than to take their bikes out for a ride. Cycling in the winter means keeping warm, that’s a given. But many cyclists seem to be experiencing a problem.No matter how hard they try, their faces still remain cold. It is primarily because they do not provide enough warmth to key areas of the face, such as the ears and nose. Find out how to keep your face warm while cycling in winter to save yourself from a world of pain.

You can pull the balaclava up to your lower lip if your face is cold, covering your chin. or even your nose and cheeks, leaving only your eyes uncovered. You can turn the lower part of the balaclava into a skull cap under your helmet if spring arrives in the middle of a ride. Keep the balaclava under your chin if it’s not quite so cold. Your neck and ears will still be protected as it seals around your face.

When I cycle, why does my face get so cold?

When it is cold, the body tends to move blood inward and closer to the vital organs to protect them from freezing. This is why it is difficult to keep the extremities warm. Cold weather usually affects the face, feet, and hands first. Keeping your digits and face warm is a good idea. As the blood vessels in the cheeks dilate, heat is sent to the skin’s surface, where it radiates away. If you don’t want to remember cross-country runs at school in winter, think about sportspeople you’ve seen on TV. Maybe you remember a children’s book or poem about rosy-cheeked children playing outside. Your body reacts to the cold.

When you exercise, your body produces some heat. This heat has to be expelled. In order to cool you off, the pores in the skin open up to allow more blood to circulate. This lowers your body’s temperature.

Don’t be a hero

The wannabe hardman sits on the other side of the temperature scale. A number of riders constantly overestimate the amount of clothing they’ll need on a ride, but there are others who wear as little clothing as possible, even when it’s freezing. I find this equally ridiculous.

Furthermore, if you’re warm, you’ll ride better. It’s a fact. It is your body’s job to keep you warm if you are underinsulated. As your blood vessels constrict, you start to lose feeling in your extremities as your body tries to send warm blood back to your core. If you’ve ever tried pulling a brake lever with frozen hands, you know it’s not just difficult, it’s dangerous.

In spite of the stories about Bernard Hinault and the snowy apocalypse that masqueraded as Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 1980, you can bet that The Badger would have turned around and gone home if it weren’t a race. In the end, as an amateur, you don’t get bonus points for being miserable and cold. You just end up that way.

Dress appropriately for the conditions

Looking out the window on a December morning, it almost always looks cold, so overheating is an easy one. In particular, if you’re like me, as I tend to assume the worst when riding in the freezing cold. It’s also a problem that bike clothes don’t do a great job of keeping you warm when you’re not riding. Consequently, the short walk from the door to the garage is usually quite chilly, even on mild mornings, and can easily tempt you back indoors to put on more clothing. This is a mistake that should be avoided.

Now, this might seem obvious – and it is, in fact, obvious – but a lot of riders still get it wrong. Clothing can sometimes be a challenge, as that famous Sean Kelly quote suggests because you only realize how cold it is after you’ve returned from a ride, and in winter, it’s just as important to make sure you don’t overheat as it is to stay warm.

What are the best ways to protect my face while cycling?

Here are some options for keeping your face warm and dry in the cold. They have a wide range of applications around the world and some are very versatile. Most of them are used outside of urban cycling.

As most of them cannot be worn over a helmet, they should be included in your cycling clothing routine as early as possible. Cycling caps work well with them, and you only need to make a few adjustments to make them work with the eyewear you wear while cycling.

Trapper Hat

Trapper hats offer a detachable face mask that keeps your face warm while cycling in winter. It’s the ultimate face warmer. You can usually find them lined with fleece or fur.

Helmet Liner or Skull Cap

Here is what a swimming cap would look like if it were designed for cyclists. When it comes to keeping your face warm while winter cycling gear, sometimes the solution is the whole package. When you wear one of these, you protect your head from the cold.

Under the helmet, don’t wear a hat or beanie. Allow it to move. Modern ski helmets don’t need an additional layer of protection from a thick hat, and they will also eliminate the protective effects of the helmet in the first place.

You may wonder what a skull cap is. A thin elastic cap covers the entire head, runs down to the ear, and offers comfort and warmth for the top of your head. Skull caps, like headbands, prevent sweat from trickling down your face. Additionally, they hold the hair down under the helmet so that sweat or air cannot mess it up.

Wrapping Up

Here are some ways to keep your face warm while cycling in winter. You should protect your face from the bitter cold. Otherwise, you might end up in the hospital unable to catch your breath. Don’t worry about wearing all the gear or trying out all the tips at once. Just one or two should change how you ride for the better. It’s time to wrap things up.

Thermal Cycling Caps

Designed with modern thermal fabrics and full head and ear coverage, these caps have the look and feel of traditional cycling caps.

And a couple of other tips

• Fill your water bottle with hot drinks. If you put them in an insulated bottle, such as Camelbak’s Podium Chill bottle, they’ll stay warm for a little while. 
• During long winter rides, don’t be afraid to stop and warm up. Go inside, warm up with a hot beverage, don’t stop by the side of the road. It’s not weak to stop during a long ride if it makes the second two hours as enjoyable as the first rather than a game of attrition.
• Invest in a couple of those hand warmers that heat up when you crack them and keep them in your pockets. You can always put them inside your gloves or use them to warm your fingers when you stop at a cafe.
• Mudguards need to repair. You’ll stay warm if you’re dry or, at least, the drier you are, the easier it will be to stay warm.