Dressing for cold weather skating

[Natasha]

Thanks Gav, I was going to start a separate thread asking about cold-weather skating gear (first experience last Friday, brrrr!) but here is as good as anywhere. What are the arm covers? Do you get them from somewhere or make them out of something? How do you stop them slipping off? Thanks.

[roger]

You can get arms and legs from any good cycling shop. They are good for cycling in spring and autumn, because you can pull them off as the day warms up and stuff them in your jersey pocket.

I also have some skating-specific arms and legs that are kevlar reinforced. These are more to prevent road rash than to keep you warm, though they are quite warm.

Personally I find its getting a bit cold now for arms and legs, as it rarely gets warm enough to remove them. For cycling this week I was wearing lightweight tights and a long sleeved top, with a lightweight wicking vest, with a windproof gilet on top, which was just about right. That is also pretty much what I wear for cross-country skiing when its minus 10c, though with slightly thicker materials.

[Gav]

Well, my personal preference is to still wear my team skinsuit and then get leg extenders like these, that get tucked in underneath the leg parts and arm equivalents (these) which tuck under your arms. You can get these from any cycling shop generally. For me this would be warm enough to do a full race in 12-16C I reckon (guessing temperatures here to give you an idea)

If its colder, still wear the skinsuit, arm extenders, but then get thicker proper running lycra leggings. (this kind of thing, maybe thicker). That should sort you out from 8-14C ish

And gloves with either combination... I had a very light pair of running gloves that were £3 and perfect. Not anything bulky at all.

Some people would wear a head band under your helmet if its really cold, but I think thats overkill.

Alternatively you could wear one of those short track ice skating suits that has long legs, arms and includes the hoody

[Natasha]

Thanks chaps, I'll check out the cycling shop tomorrow and maybe the wiggle shop later on.

[Mikey-two-Names]

If it's quite cold, a hat under your helmet makes a huge difference to keeping you warm since you can loose a large portion of your body heat through the head. Many of the cycling shops do nice thin ones that are designed to go under a helmet. Weirdly if you wear a hat your hands and feet often don't get as cold.

[olivier]

Not so weird since it's the overall heat loss feedback that drives blood circulation. The neck is where most of the heat loss occurs so think about protecting that.

[Rick]

I think you'll find oxygen demand in the muscles drives the circulation more when you are skating. But if you take the need for cooling out of the equation then does that mean you can have a lower heart rate for the same exercise load?

[olivier]

I haven't got a clue about the heart rate but if you are losing more heat than cooling requires, you burn more energy than necessary. I wouldn't venture into how significant that is in mild temperatures like now....

When I was doing road cycling, we wore wooly hats, good gloves and mainly windproof jackets. Some put paper between the jacket and the jersey to improve insulation. I didn't have long leggings and can't remember needing it, even when it was 4-5 C. Same when I was running. Bloody knee. I'd love to go running this winter. It's when it's best.

[Mikey-two-Names]

Very much so. Heart rate gets elevated when training in warm temperatures because more blood flow is required to the skin for cooling.

A hat helping cold extremities does feel a little weird when one's body is plenty warm enough. I would have expected adding a hat to make my body become too hot, and my extremities almost warm enough, which is why it's weird that a hat seems to nicely even out the difference between warm body and cold hands.

AFAIK it's the head where most heat loss occurs, up to 70% of total body heat loss has been quoted.

[Rick]

The head thing really depends on conditions if you are in water and are wearing a good fitting wet suit but nothing on your head, you will lose about 90% through your head. If you are naked in cold air or water then about 70% If you are naked in warmer conditions then it drops to about about 40%. If you are wearing an effective hood and not much else then you'll lose less than 20% through the head.

Part of the bodies repair system will naturally send more blood to the vital organs, ie torso and brain if there is a problem. The head doesn't have much fat round it to keep it warm so it dissipates heat more so you should wear a hat when you need to retain heat and get in the shade without one when you want to get rid of it. This means less blood goes to the extremities which is why your hands feel warmer if you are wearing a hat that keeps your head warm. It needs less blood for heating so more is pumped round the rest of the body.

[Mikey-two-Names]

Apparently blood vessels in the head don't vaso-constrict like they do in the rest of the body - pretty obvious why I guess.