Winter measuring

My advice would be to not do it but if you have to dress warm. I see there are heated gloves now. seirus.com probably too late to get a pair to wear tomorrow. Good luck.

Have fun!

At least it is only a 5 km. It is no different than skiing. Sometimes you are too warm when your are exerting yourself, but you sill need layers and something to cut the wind. With a wind chill of 5 at rest it will feel a lot colder when you are riding into the wind.

Here is a trick I learned running in the north. I would always go out into the wind so if it got too bad I could always turn around and run home with the wind at my back. I never had to do that despite running at temperatures as low as -35ºC.

Have fun.

Be sure to put your paint can inside car near heater vent on the way over to course site.

Some people don't perspire much in cold weather. I know I do, now matter how cold it is, assuming I am dressed appropriately. For me this means fewer layers than most people, so I do not over dress. If your top layers are mostly zipper-equipped, and you actually heat up because you are pedaling hard and you have on many layers, opening one or more zippers can help retard perspiration. What gets anyone cold, of course, is sweating under those layers and then having to stop, as when marking timing points. Keeping dry as possible with wicking fabrics and lots of zipper management keeps down the sweat and then the danger of rapid hypothermia for me.

As a novice runner, back before I knew about the risks of getting sweaty on a frigid run, I ran for 2 hours in 15 degrees F in a cotton sweater and a light windbreaker. I was fine until I finished, stopping my run about 300 yards from my car. I was soaking wet but warm. By the time I made it to the car, I was shaking so badly I could hardly drive. I nearly passed out before the car heat came on. Less likely to get this way on a bike ride, I assume, but still possible if you are over dressed and you can't unzip enough layers.

Wear a ski mask.

I would like to hear how it went. Stay safe.

My cal courses are now snow covered, so no measurement tomorrow.
Thanks everyone for the advice.
We really wanted to get this thing done this weekend because the race is in early March, but Mother Nature did not cooperate yet again. Hopefully next weekend.

Ken's tip about paint is on the mark. When I measured at freezing temperatures I kept my spray paint in a pocket inside my jacket. My spray paint won't work when it's very cold.

Beware of the odd frozen puddle.

When the snow melts, do everything recommended above, plus whatever you can think of to keep your feet warm. Neoprene toe covers, Gore-Tex socks, etc. Another thing, allow extra time since each time you stop to record something or paint something, it will take extra time removing gloves, opening zippers, awkwardly writing or painting while holding gloves, then re-dressing and re-zippering.

How long before the roads in Michigan are clear enough to measure, after a snow storm? We, one time, had the race director shovel a path through the snow piles at the corners to let us measure a course he changed a few days before the race. We had 2-feet of snow 9-days ago. Since then we've had 4 or 5 40-degree days. The piles at the corners will be there for at least 2 more weeks, if there's no more snow.

Guido - We don't actually have much snow. My main problem was that my two cal courses are on streets that don't get much traffic (on purpose of course). It snowed yesterday and because it was cold when it snowed and got colder last night, I knew they wouldn't be clear early this morning, and the one in front of my house was not.
I figured freezing paint would be an issue, so the RD was going to follow me to mark the miles. I also wondered if an ink pen was going to work, so I planned to use a pencil instead. SO many things that might go wrong in weather like that.

Ken is right - the second-worst part of measuring when it is that cold is the paint won't work properly. It gets globbed-up inside the can, and won't spray.

Worst part is the toes going numb(neoprene covers help), and fingers getting too cold while doing what Guidos mentioned.

5ks are too bad, but I still draw the line at 20°. I charge extra for any measurement below 32°, because I often have to mark after my rides (I refuse to put a cold paint can close to my body), taking more time. I also use a pencil. Batteries will last through a 5k (I make a GPS track), but normally die during a cold 10k. I don't do 10k measurements below 30° any more.

Toes are a problem easily solved by looking dorky. I used bulky rubber snow boots with two pairs of heavy socks inside. Kept the feet toasty warm on a 10k measured at zero, years ago. I don't have toe clip attachments on my bike.

Also leather ski mittens with wooly lining, and a face mask. And two sets of long underwear.

If you're doing it right you will look like the Michelin Man.

Keeping warm and safe are top of the list for winter measuring. Water bottles will freeze and crack in the cold. Moisture got into one of my counters and froze. I noticed the problem while while pre-calibrating. Fortunately, I had a second counter.

You may be able to convince someone to follow you in a vehicle. If you are lucky enough, they can do the writing for you.

Pete mentioned the frozen puddle. In addition, you need to beware of the puddle of water in your path that might turn out to be a deep pothole.

A carpenter's crayon works well in the cold. I have seen my yellow marks on the pavement up to a year later.

Thank you. -- Justin

The coldest I've ever been measuring was with Dave Katz measuring the NYC Half last January. I don't think it ever got down to single digits, but it was definitely in the teens. Oddly, the coldest part of that ride was standing still in Central Park figuring out splits - I was shivering. Once we got riding, even into a stiff wind off the Hudson, it was not so bad. The 20 km point was in a tunnel that runs under the Battery (not the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel) and the warmth there was exquisite. I didn't even mind the exhaust and the cars speeding past us at 50 MPH.

For cold weather (and other conditions) I use a digital voice recorder to note mile split descriptions. Eliminates the gloves off/gloves on delay and semi-legible writing (I have this problem even in good weather). I find I tend to be more descriptive in my descriptions this way anyway. Since I carry my iPhone and use UKCM to calculate the course length and split points, it's simple to use its built-in voice recorder for this. You can then transfer the recording to your desktop if you desire.

Gene was probably laughing as he read these comments about winter measuring. After yesterday, I wonder who's laughing now

I didn't move here for this.

Could be worst as it was gone by the afternoon

Gene we just wanted you to remember what you moved away FROM!

quote:

Originally posted by Pete Riegel:
Toes are a problem easily solved by looking dorky. I used bulky rubber snow boots with two pairs of heavy socks inside. Kept the feet toasty warm on a 10k measured at zero, years ago. I don't have toe clip attachments on my bike.

Also leather ski mittens with wooly lining, and a face mask. And two sets of long underwear.

If you're doing it right you will look like the Michelin Man.

LIKE.

I measured a 5K a couple of winters ago at around 20F. Aside from freezing hands, my worst problem was that my electronic thermometer quit working. I had two and got another out of my truck which was parked in the sun. It worked so I put it in my vest pocket and did the second ride. Then it would not work so I got the other out of the truck which had warmed it up enough to work.