Staying Warm

In reply to Marissa at Tucker the Wunderkind's post on how to stay warm while riding, I thought I'd share my own secrets :-)

Back in the day when I rode with a trainer, it was embedded into my brain that you are not to stop to remove any layers while you ride. When I rode at Telluride, the beautiful facility had an indoor arena that never got below 45º in the coldest winter months, so wearing a turtleneck & a vest was pretty bearable.

However, due to my own stubbornness I still live by this habit, & to me it's just natural and easier to not interrupt my riding for "undressing". The kicker? My arena does get colder than 45º in the coldest winter months. A lot colder. So, how do I cope? Easy: I dress like I'm skiing.

I'm a huge fan of LL Bean and my mom jokes that I look like a spokesperson for the store when I stop at her house for a visit after riding. If they made breeches, I'd live in them. (Someday?! It doesn't hurt to dream!!!) One day on an LL Bean excursion (I'm lucky enough to be less than 10 miles from a retail location) I found these incredible SportHill thermal shirts for skiing that have extra long sleeves with a thumb hole, so when you pull your glove and jacket on, your sleeve stays down! Completely brilliant.

These SportHill thermals are fleece-lined and have kind of a soft shell exterior, so they insulate and as your body produces heat & energy, it insulates you & keeps the heat close to your body! I also ride in fleece-lined breeches which I found on tackoftheday.com for $5. The SportHill thermal tops I haven't been able to find since – I think I spent $40-50 a piece (they were $75 orig.) and they are two different bright, obnoxious colors but they're the only two shirts I wear if it's below freezing and they're absolutely wonderful. 20º-30º and I don't need anything else, just the shirt. Any colder than 20º I wear a down jacket on top, but it's incredibly cozy!

I ride in tall boots with wool socks. An headband/earmuff type item would be really handy and probably complete my winter riding attire, but I haven't acquired anything of the sort yet.

Jimmy doesn't get dressed or undressed either - he has to be tough with me. He goes outside in a heavy weight blanket with a hood & get switched to a baker wool stable sheet at night. If he'll be standing in the aisle a bit while I set a course, I'll throw his baker over him. We asked Santa for a wool cooler for Christmas. I hope we were good enough this year to get one!!!!