OUR MICROCLIMATE

In cold weather our clothes create a microclimate next to our skin that is much warmer than the external ambient conditions. We produce this warmth metabolically and we retain it with clothing. And while our eyes see the chilly, external environment, our bodies "see" the warm microclimate adjacent to our skin. And because we tend to be sight oriented rather than skin oriented, we see our needs for clothing, rather than feel them. As a result, we tend to overprotect ourselves by piling on too much clothing for the ambient conditions. All is well while at rest, but while cycling we generate a great deal of metabolic warmth, and this, hampered by the excess of clothing, leads to sweating.

Sweat is the body's reaction to overheating. It i very effective at cooling our bodies, as long as the sweat can evaporate. Without evaporation there is no evaporative cooling.

So not only does the heavy clothing cause us to sweat, but the over-abundance of garments also prevents evaporation. And when the sweat fails to cool us, our bodies produce even more sweat.

This similar to throwing a blanket over a car's radiator. Even in cold weather the radiator needs to cool the engine to help dissipate the heat generated as a normal byproduct of work.

Cycling along on a cold day while perspiring inside excessive clothing -accepting the profuse sweat as an unavoidable part of the activity- is an extremely inefficient and dangerous way to travel. Not only are sweat-soaked garment uncomfortable, but they will be much less serviceable at the rest stops and at camp when needed most -when we are no longer producing an abundance of metabolic warmth. When at rest, we rely almost entirely on our clothing to keep us warm, yet those sweat-soaked garments will have lost a great deal of their ability to insulate.

This is why, in very cold weather, wearing too many clothes can be hazardous as not wearing enough. I consider this one of the most fundamental skills of cold weather cycling -body awareness in terms of our microclimate.

This relates not only to higher mileage bikers in frigid conditions. It applies to all bikers in chilly to cold weather. No matter the type of ride, be it an afternoon jaunt, a weekend climb journey, or a 10 day ride into the high country, when the temperature starts to drop, pay close attention to the microclimate and regulate it by wearing your clothing dynamically.