When I woke up at 5:30, it had just started to snow. The weather forecast had called for up to 2 cm (about 1″) of snow – no big deal. However, when I left the house at 7:30, there was almost 25 cm (10″).

The flakes were huge, traffic was at a standstill when the cars weren’t sliding into one another, and cyclists were slowly but surely moving along much faster than the other traffic.

I strapped my little digital camera to my bike and slapped together the following cheesy little video of the day’s bike ride to work.

When I woke up at 5:30, it had just started to snow.  The weather forecast had called for up to 2 cm (about 1″) of snow – no big deal. However, when I left the house at 7:30, there was almost 25 cm (10″).

The flakes were huge, traffic was at a standstill when the cars weren’t sliding into one another, and cyclists were slowly but surely moving along much faster than the other traffic.

I strapped my little digital camera to my bike and slapped together the following cheesy little video of the day’s bike ride to work.

Morning ride, originally uploaded by elliottzone.

Some days, the ride to work just plain ol’ sucks…

Most of the time I wear this, it’s underneath my bike helmet when I’m cycling in cold weather. Not just any ol’ cold weather — really cold weather. -25C cold, usually with nasty cold wind on top of that…

Likes

Warm, warm, warm!
This really is one of those things you put on and think, “wow – it works!”

Not overly tight.
Unlike most balaclavas, this isn’t skin-tight. On the other hand, it is a heavy duty balaclava, so it’s not as comfortable as one that’s silk or a silk-weight synthetic.

Decent neck tube length.
Some balaclavas are too long and bunch up uncomfortably under your chin. This can be especially uncomfortable if you have your jacket zipped up tight around your neck, or if you wear it with a helmet strap. Others are too short and let in unpleasant gusts of wind.

Removable face mask / customizable fit.
Not only is the nose-cover/face mask removable, but the entire front can be released on one side. This means that to eat or drink, you don’t have to stretch the opening down below your chin or take the whole thing off. Because the attachments are velcro, the face mask can be moved up or down so it provides a bit of a custom fit. The entire front part can also be adjusted by choosing between two different velcro strips. Most importantly, it makes it easy to quickly peel one side away to launch the infamous snot-rocket while you’re riding.

Good moisture wicking.
The material does a good job of wicking moisture away from the face mask area, so you don’t end up with a soggy mass of frozen breath.

Excellent wind resistance.
With a name like Windstopper, you’d expect this balaclava to be windproof, and it is.

Dislikes

Tough to breath through.
If you exert yourself and breath heavily, the Gorilla can be hard to breath through. It’s also quite noisy inside the balaclava when you’re breathing hard.

Stitching on inside.
This is really quite annoying and I’m a little surprised that Outdoor Research let this go… On the inside of the balaclava, there are are two thick, heavy rows of stitching that come all the way down to the front of the balaclava. If you wear this under a helmet, you’ll end up with two long dents on your forehead…

Overall

If you’re active outside in really cold weather, this will be the last balaclava you ever need to buy.

While I don’t really have room in the driveway for an airplane, I do have a number of bikes. T9 works extremely well as a long lasting and multi-weather lubricant for bike chains.

According to the Boeshield folks, “Road cyclists can get about 300+ miles (500Km) per application.  In wet weather riding reapply after half that distance.  For off road riding reapply after one quarter that distance, more frequently if conditions require.  For best performance, ‘apply tonight, ride tomorrow’. ”

Lee Valley now carries the Boeshield T9 in both a bottle and aerosol can.  The bottles are great, as they don’t take up much room in your pack, and a little goes a long way.

I’m looking forward to trying this lubricant in the winter, as Boeing states the T9 lubricant excels in damp environments.

For more info, visit the Boeshield Canada site, or Lee Valley Tools’ site.

Riding to work, originally uploaded by elliottzone.

There are some days when it feels like my ride will never end…

Slogging through the snow can be challenging at times, especially when it’s -25C outside, dark, windy and just plain ol’ not fun.

But, I just remind myself the alternates are to pay $26 / day to park my truck downtown, or take Calgary Transit. Transit is terrible in Calgary, so it’s always a last resort…

One snowflake by itself is a thing of beauty. When they all gang up on you, however, I’m always reminded that “there’s strength in numbers”.

Darn snowflakes…

First impression

These shoes are comfy! The neoprene internal liner is a nice snug fit, without being too tight or constricting. You should get a pair that are a size or size and half larger than you would usually wear. This will let you wear a pair (or two) of thick warm socks. Trying to cram your foot into a shoe that’s too tight will work against you by constricting the blood flow to your foot. Less blood flow means colder feet.

Additionally, these shoes have a fairly large toebox area, so there’s plenty of room to wiggle cold toes and to add one of those small hand-warmer pads for really cold rides.

Make sure that any pants you’re wearing go over the shoe – not inside it.  Snow or sleet will quickly find its way into the shoe if your pants are tucked in, and that cold wet trickle gets uncomfortable very quickly.

Modifications you should make

One of the first things I did was remove the shoelaces. After about a month, the laces were so shredded from getting caught on the Velcro straps, they quickly became an annoyance. After I removed them, the shoes actually felt better. The Velcro straps are more than sufficient to keep the shoe snug on your foot, and it’s faster and easier to put the shoes on and take them off without the laces.

I also changed the insoles. The ones that came with the shoes were okay, but I replaced them with some thicker felt ones that also had a thin metallic layer that helped reflect some of the warmth back into my feet. These are available from most outdoor or hunting stores. (I paid about $3 for two pairs from Marks Workwearhouse.)

Whether you are riding with cleats or not, be sure to seal the shoe from the outside with silicone or Shoe Goo. Water can easily find its way into the shoe while you’re cycling if there’s no sealant.

I’ve ridden down to -45C with these shoes on. (Not very far… J) While these shoes do a good job of keeping my feet warm down to about -20C, after riding for about an hour, my toes start to get cold. Adding a pair of cycling booties to help make them more windproof made a noticeable difference, as did using small chemical hand-warmer pads on the top of my socks.

After three seasons

Overall, the shoes have held up quite well to the wear and tear of riding through wet, dirty and salty conditions. I rarely cleaned these shoes, so some of the wear and tear might be a result of my neglect.

Calgary weather changes by the second… After a dump of several inches of snow in the morning, it’s not uncommon to ride home in melting slush. These shoes have held up extremely well in wet sloppy conditions. They won’t keep your feet dry if you’re walking through ankle-deep puddles, but even with the odd toe touch down, the shoes have kept my feet dry.

The toe spikes provided with the shoes were almost completely useless in icy conditions, and wear very quickly. Consider replacing them with a pair of Sidi toe spikes (the ones on the left) which are much longer lasting and work much better than the smooth Lake ones.

I also ran into a few problems with toe spike tear-out. If you suddenly have to put your foot down while moving, the toe spikes are going to take the full brunt of your momentum, and the small mounting point simply isn’t strong enough to take that force.  I had the spikes tear out a couple of times. After replacing them with the Sidi toe spikes and using some blue Loctite, I’ve had no problems with them over the last two seasons.

The stitching has completely disintegrated from the backs of both shoes, where the soft boot is sewn to the outer shell. This is a bit annoying, because the shoes now feel “floppy” when riding or walking in them. (Time for a visit to the shoe doctor…)

The neoprene inner shoe is also starting to show some serious wear, to the point of almost being worn through. I think this is because of the snug fit of the neoprene inner – there’s no way to get the shoes on or off without your socks rubbing against this area. This doesn’t seem to affect the shoe’s performance, as the neoprene inner is fully covered and well sealed by the outer boot when you cinch the Velcro straps.

Overall…

An excellent shoe that holds up quite well to nasty winter conditions.  I’m guessing they’ll easily last another few years with a bit of attention and minor repairs. (I wish my chain and chain rings lasted that long!)

Note: This particular model is no longer produced by Lake, but they do have “new and improved” models.