Don't treat winter as your cycling off season. riding your bike all winter.

Don't treat winter as your cycling off- season. Riding your bike all winter. If you treat winter as your cycling off-season, you just might be missing out on some of the best months to ride. Sure, daylight is brief, the air is brisk, and the streets look like they might be better navigated by Zamboni, but consider the simple joys of the season. Why to ride outside winter You'll burn more fat. There’s a growing and fascinating body of research on our fat’s color coding. Most of us know about white fat, the stuff that might sit in unwanted bulges under our skin. What we’re less aware of is our brown fat, which is packed with energy- producing furnaces known as mitochondria. Brown fat actually burns white fat. Lean people have more of it than those who are overweight. There is also beige fat, which is white fat that has been “browned” and now burns fat like the brown stuff. Two things can brown your fat: aerobic exercise and exposure to cold. You'll fend off colds and flu. Riding your bike boosts your immunity by circulating your immune cells so they can seek and destroy invading bacteria and viruses. Research shows that folks who get regular exercise have about 45 percent fewer sore throats and colds as their sofa-surfing peers. Getting out on your bike also frees you from the germy indoors where everyone is swapping winter sickness. Things you’ll need for winter riding Warm, waterproof boots Warm gloves (Wear thin wool gloves underneath warm mittens. This will keep your fingers warm when you take off the mittens to lock or unlock your bike.) Earmuffs or other ear covering Glasses or goggles to keep the snow out of your eyes Scarf or neck warmer that can cover your mouth but still allow you to breathe easily. A long scarf allows you to wrap your neck and face, but it also has long tails that

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Transcript of Don't treat winter as your cycling off season. riding your bike all winter.

Don't treat winter as your cycling off-season. Riding your bike all winter.

If you treat winter as your cycling off-season, you just might be missing out on some of the best months to ride. Sure, daylight is brief, the air is brisk, and the streets look like they might be better navigated by Zamboni, but consider the simple joys of the season. Why to ride outside winter

You'll burn more fat.

There’s a growing and fascinating body of research on our fat’s color coding. Most of us know about white fat, the stuff that might sit in unwanted bulges under our skin. What we’re less aware of is our brown fat, which is packed with energy-producing furnaces known as mitochondria. Brown fat actually burns white fat. Lean people have more of it than those who are overweight. There is also beige fat, which is white fat that has been “browned” and now burns fat like the brown stuff. Two things can brown your fat: aerobic exercise and exposure to cold. You'll fend off colds and flu.

Riding your bike boosts your immunity by circulating your immune cells so they can seek and destroy invading bacteria and viruses. Research shows that folks who get regular exercise have about 45 percent fewer sore throats and colds as their sofa-surfing peers. Getting out on your bike also frees you from the germy indoors where everyone is swapping winter sickness.Things you’ll need for winter riding

Warm, waterproof boots Warm gloves (Wear thin wool gloves underneath warm mittens. This

will keep your fingers warm when you take off the mittens to lock or unlock your bike.)

Earmuffs or other ear covering Glasses or goggles to keep the snow out of your eyes Scarf or neck warmer that can cover your mouth but still allow you to

breathe easily. A long scarf allows you to wrap your neck and face, but it also has long tails that you can use to cover your chest underneath your coat.

Warm hat or nylon skull cap that fits underneath your helmet. Long underwear if it's really cold or leg warmers that cover your

knees. For longer (sweatier) rides, it's a good idea to make your underlayer —

the one closest to your skin — one of wool or a synthetic material. Cotton tends to stay wet longer and may end up cooling you down, whereas wool tends to hold moisture.