To Wear or To Not Wear - That's the Question

Brrrr and windy today, wind chill to 25 degrees, blowin' from the east. About the same for the ride home, plus threatening to snow, though, as you can see, nothing so far when I left work a bit before 3:00pm.

My layers inbound were a lightweight thermal top, Smart Wool arm warmers and my  medium weight fleece. I used a Buff on my neck, a medium headband for the ears. Bottom-wise, I wore my lycra capri leggins, Pearl Izumi knee warmers, Smart Wool ski socks, my regular bike shoes and Sugoi neoprene booties.

The combination was pretty comfortable considering the low temps and east wind. A few of the gusts almost caught me off guard. I had wanted to stop and take a dark, morning picture of the city line, but it was too cold and windy for me. Hopefully will have another chance to get a "night lights" picture of the city line, just love the look of the city lights reflecting off the water.

For the trip home, I added my rain jacket to the above because I would be heading into the 20mph east wind. Sounded good and I was fairly comfortable starting out - usually a bad sign when exerting oneself. The jacket proved just a bit too much given I was riding uphill from 70' to 253' above sea level and riding into a strong head wind. By the time I got home, the fleece, great for wicking, was quite wet as was my rain jacket. Lesson learned.

Figuring out the right combination of layers for the given weather is proving quite difficult, especially since we tend to have ever-changing conditions, but I think I am getting close. Things I know for sure are:

• Love Smart Wool - the ski socks are just about right.
• Booties - let me use my regular cycling shoes and my toes stay warm, dry in the rain.
• Smart Wool arm warmers - provides that needed extra layer on my arms without having to wear additional layers over my core, which tends to get warm if too covered up.
• Thin and medium head bands for my ears - if my ears/jaw are comfortable, then my TMJ does not totally pain out my jaw, which can be quite painful and tough to get rid of.
• Gortex, lined gloves for when it is really cold or wet - hands stay all comfy.
• Knee warmers - my knees seem to be the most susceptible to cold, these give me just enough extra layering.

I figure about the time I get this winter layering figured out, it will be time to adjust to warmer temps and I can start all over.