Michael O'Hair

As someone else pointed out, keep your head warm. This will help

a bit on keeping the extremities warm.



There is, in my experience, nothing that will keep your hands

dry and warm all the time. I have tried everything from ski

gloves to poly-pro glove liners under latex gloves. If you're

too warm, you sweat; not enough coverage and your hands freeze.

I am currently using Performance wind-block gloves with either

poly-pro liners or a pair of Pearl Izumi Thermafleece gloves

under them. A nice feature to the Performance gloves is that

if you keep your fingers together, there is no air flow, but

if you spread your fingers a bit, you get some air flow. This

helps keep the sweating under control.



Since I worked in the ship yards and pulled wrenches for a living

forty years ago, I was handling cold metal constantly. The result is

that I lose some circulation when it gets cold. I have been told

that frostbite is cumulative. ( Paging Doctor Mike Murray: Do

you have any comments here? ) I have been known to get preachy about

wearing gloves on cold wet days to the younger riders. :)



Note that the cramping threshold drops with the temperature. After

several events where I had cramped up in both quads and both hamstrings,

I now wear a pair of GoreTex "quad warmers" I had made. Plastic wrap

will work ( a tip of the hat to Chuck Jerabek ) but tends to slide around

a bit; you will have sweaty legs, but they'll be warm sweaty legs. I

also force my self to drink lots of fluids to counteract the coffee I

consume ( caffeine is a diuretic ).



I went for a brisk lunch-hour ride Weds ( when it was not raining ) and

wore:

Lower body: shorts, leg warmers, my quad warmers, knee warmers over

those,

and tights. I use thick socks and Performance booties.



Upper body: wool/polypro long sleeve undershirt, lightweight long

sleeve

jersey, arm warmers over those, short sleeve jersey, a team jacket

by

Girodana, and topped by a team vest that is solid ( non-mesh back )

on

both sides. I carried a light windbreaker in case it started to

rain.



Misc: a PI headband to cover the ears and a helmet cover to trap

heat,

and the above-mentioned glove setup.



And that's for a short relatively warm ride. For nasty weather, I add a

pair

of PI AmFib tights, another short sleeve jersey and carry a PVC rain jacket.



If you ride in a group, don't get dropped! The body heat generated by a

dozen riders

is amazing.



You know you're getting "Oregon-ized" when your clothing bag weighs as much

as your

bicycle. :)