“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.” – Sir Ranulph Fiennes
I’m pretty sure that I have an allergy to cold weather; I had never winter-camped before in my life and had no idea what I was in for when I started my last bike tour on November 12, 2019, leaving St. John’s, Newfoundland, and heading west across Canada.
I had done a little research and watched a few YouTube videos before I set out, but until you start pedalling into your first bike touring winter, it’s hard to know what you are getting yourself into. It’s definitely a learning curve where you find yourself adjusting and pivoting a few times before you find “your ride” or your style.
Fully loaded during a snowstorm
Winter Bike Touring Tips
- Layer up
Ideally, three layers: a base layer made up of a wicking material such as merino wool or some form of synthetic material. Bottom line: you want to be able to pull moisture (sweat) from your body. In winter, excessive sweating can lead to increased heat loss and, in severe circumstances, hypothermia. So use a base layer, mid layer, and outer layer. As you cool down or warm up, you add or shed a layer. Don’t wear cotton.
- Vent moisture
In the interest of preventing excessive sweating, do your best to vent moisture from windproof outer layers. Ensure that your windproof outer layer has plentiful venting options, including a full-length front zip, armpit and leg zips, and adjustable cuffs.
- Drop your pace and control exertion
This is a little repetitive regarding the advice to avoid excessive sweating. But unlike the specific instructions on how to prevent sweating, dropping your pace and controlling your exertion should probably be a mantra that you remind yourself of many times an hour.
You don’t need to remind yourself to layer up or vent moisture any more than you need to remind yourself to put socks on in the morning. But when you are pedalling for hours and hours, it’s important to remind yourself to manage your effort before you get too hot.
- Protect extremities
Keep your hands, feet, and face warm. Once they are frozen, it can be difficult to warm up in the middle of nowhere, and these are the parts of the body that can be particularly vulnerable to frostbite.
- Don’t stop for long unnecessarily
Fairly self-explanatory, but it’s a good reminder to help maintain a comfortable body temperature and avoid going from warm to cold unnecessarily.
- Protect your eyes
Snow has that brightness factor that can cause snow blindness. Protect your eyes appropriately with wraparound sunglasses with UVA/UVB-filtered lenses. Some advice I recently received is to make sure that your sunglasses fit close to your face to prevent sunlight from getting in and reflecting up into your eyes.
Ski goggles work amazingly when biking through a blizzard. The ski goggle advice I got was not to spend less than $130 on ski goggles. Cheap goggles will be very uncomfortable for all-day riding, and they may not vent condensation properly.
- Get fuelled up
Your body will burn more calories to keep your core warm, as well as to keep your legs pedalling. If you can keep snacks in an inside pocket so they don’t harden or freeze, all the better.
- Notes on water
And keep hydrated. Fill up water bottles whenever possible from a tap. Melting snow is a lot more work and time-consuming than one realizes.
Thermally wrap your water bottles if possible. Store water bottles upside down, as water freezes from the top down, and by stowing bottles upside down, the bottle tops may be less likely to freeze shut. Don’t fill water bottles to the very top; allow some room for the ice to expand. Just make sure your bottle lids are screwed on correctly and won’t leak.
Possibly store water bottles in snow drifts to utilize the snow’s insulating properties. Depending on the conditions, this may help slow freezing, but it won’t guarantee that your water stays liquid.
- Winterize your bike
Clean and lube your drivetrain after every ride. Use a lubricant suitable for winter conditions. Make sure cables are well-sealed and uncontaminated. You don’t want brake cables freezing up on icy roads. Carry a suitable product for dealing with frozen components, making sure it is safe for the parts you intend to use it on.
Drop your tire pressure a little for better traction in snow, slush, or on wet roads, while keeping within the tire manufacturer’s recommendations.
I rode with studded tires, and they worked great.
For the love of it
Winter Camping Tips
- Winter camping
Fluff up and shake air into the sleeping bag. This helps trap more warm air inside and increases the barrier between the person inside the sleeping bag and the cold air outside. Protect down sleeping bags in particular from getting wet at all costs.
Avoid breathing into the sleeping bag while sleeping. Avoid it, no matter how tempting, as it introduces moisture into the sleeping bag, and down doesn’t work as well when it’s damp. For the same reason, squash all the air out of your bag as soon as you get up in the morning in order to expel body moisture.
Dry out your sleeping bag every chance you get, such as at hostels or if you are invited into someone’s home for the evening or night.
Take a 15-minute walk before getting in the sleeping bag to help warm up.
Keep a dedicated pee bottle in the tent with you.
Bring a small sponge to mop up condensation and melting snow. This helps keep the tent walls and your sleeping bag dry. I actually purchased one of those folding wash sinks for my boots so my boots can stay in the tent with me, versus out in the cold. The purpose of the sink is to catch any snow or melting water from the treads of my boots.
Newspaper can be used to dry out wet shoes or boots, or gloves. Just stuff the wet object with newspapers and let it sit overnight in your tent. The paper will draw out a large amount, if not all, of the excess moisture.
Compact and pack down snow for the tent site, and if possible, let snow settle and refreeze for half an hour.
Sleeping with your water bottles in your sleeping bag improves the chance of preventing them from freezing in the night. Make sure the bottles are securely closed to avoid leaks.
A foam sleeping pad will insulate better than some inflatable pads. Or bring one of each (as inflatable sleeping pads fold up small) and use both for extra insulation. That’s what I did.
Use a separate set of clothing for sleeping. Sleep in fresh, clean clothes.
Try to position your tent where the sun will rise. A spot that offers exposure to the sunrise will help you warm up faster.
It’s pointless bedding down if you’re already freezing. Crawling into your sleeping bag cold can mean shivering for much of the night. Do 50 jumping jacks. Go to bed warm. Go to bed after eating.
By emptying your bladder, your body needs to use a little less energy to stay warm.
Winter nights are long, so make sure your headlamp, GPS, and cell phone batteries are new or fully charged. Lithium batteries perform well in cold weather.
Some of my winter camping spots
What I Learned from 4,900 km of Winter Bike Touring
The coldest I slept was −24°C (−11°F). Trust me, that was cold enough. I was convinced that every minute of every mile would suck. It didn’t; I actually enjoyed it (for the most part). I would love to do at least one more winter tour in my lifetime. As long as your first winter bike tour isn’t attempting to cross Antarctica (or somewhere too isolated), you will really have nothing to lose by giving winter bike touring a try — so just go for it!
Ultimately, I would end up biking 4,900 kilometres between St. John’s, Newfoundland, and Kingston, Ontario, between November 12, 2019, and the first day of spring on March 19, 2020. The driving distance between these two cities is actually only about 2,830 kilometres, considerably less than the route I rode.
It was because of my winter bike touring experiences that I ended up adding all those extra kilometres to Atlantic Canada.
A couple of observations about my experience:
I found myself adjusting to the cold during the day way better than I expected. I think when my body realized there was no escaping the cold, it adapted quicker.
I did not sleep well in my tent at night in the cold, and I often spent much of the night rubbing my body (friction) to generate heat. With little to no sleep, that often led to exhaustion in the middle of the afternoon.
Depending on where you are biking and your contact with the locals, you might find yourself becoming a minor celebrity and end up with a lot of hosting invitations. Part of the reason I spent so much time in Atlantic Canada was that I received over thirty hosting invitations during that part of my ride.
I realized very quickly that trying to cook my own meals was a very miserable experience. Have you ever tried to wash greasy dishes with ice-cold water? Your washcloth becomes caked in grease, and the grease never actually wipes off the dishes. Also, trying to start a stove when the wind is blowing is next to impossible, not to mention how cold your fingers get during this whole ordeal. I very quickly transitioned to eating at restaurants.
That meant where I started and ended my day was determined by the proximity of a restaurant. This, in turn, had me realize that camping in restaurant parking lots made the most sense. My logic was: who would bother anyone in a tent (with their bike) in the middle of January? And no one did.
That being said, a few warnings. Never camp in a parking lot in the middle of a blizzard. Parking lots are often plowed in the middle of the night. You don’t want that kind of surprise. Also, with a growing homeless situation (particularly in Canada), your presence may not be welcomed.
Keeping in mind that it’s easy enough to ask for permission from privately owned restaurants, etc., I had one restaurant owner in Nova Scotia come in especially early the next morning to cook me breakfast on the house.
A smart rule is not to bike at night. I broke that rule in the first week. For two reasons: one, I needed to find supper, and two, where I was biking was generally quite isolated, which meant little to no traffic. No one is expecting a cyclist in the middle of January in the dark; be careful and have the best quality lights that you can buy.
Truck stops have drivers’ lounges and drivers’ showers. A great place to wait out a blizzard.
In Digby, Nova Scotia
Additional Reading
