Hey guys. Today we're going to be talking about feet. So I wrote something on the
blog a couple of weeks ago offering 5 tips on keeping your feet warm and I've
had lots of questions since then. So I thought I'd expand a bit. OK, 5 tips for
keeping your feet warm on a bike. Or a skateboard. It'll work for anything.
Tip No. 1: wear the right socks. Now I know this sounds kind of obvious but
it seems to be really overlooked. The most important part of keeping your feet
warm in wintertime is choosing the right socks. Now there are a couple ways of
looking at this but fundamentally what you need is a good thick pair of wool
socks to keep them warm. Wool is the best. Merino wool is a little bit more
comfortable, a little bit more expensive but worth it. I love merino wool socks, I
wear them every day of the winter. But beyond that there's a couple other
little trips tips that work for me. Make sure those socks are really long,
they come up to your knee. I don't know the physics behind it, but they seem to
keep my feet a lot warmer when they come up really high. So ski socks are great
for that kind of thing. You can always find long wool socks but I one thing I
do and lots of people disagree with this because of point number two, which we'll
see in a minute, but I often layer up my feet too now I've got a really thin pair
of really high wool socks so they're nice and thin they pull them up really
high they come up to here and then over top of that I put a thicker pair of
traditional wool socks. So it's still comfortable but I get all of the warmth
in there and that seems to work really well for me. Some people say one pair is
all you need that's probably true but there you go make sure you pick the
right socks. Tip No. 2: do not over stuff your shoes. So yes you need to wear
warm socks but you want to make sure your boots are not too tight. You want to
leave a little pocket of air around your foot between your sock and the inside of
your boot. Your body heat will warm that air up and that helps keep your foot
warm if your shoes are too tight. If you've stuffed too many socks in there
you're not going to have that pocket of air and your feet will get cold much quicker.
Tip No. 3: ditch the cycling shoes. Now we know a lot of people have these
shoes and these are mine I use them all the time. Cycling shoes are great for a
lot of things. They clip into your pedal to keep your foot in the right position,
which helps peddling power and peddling speed. They're made for lightness, they
are quick, they're streamlined. Usually they are not made for warmth. When your
foot is tightly packed in there, it's really tough to keep it warm. So my
solution? Ditch the cycling shoes. OK tip No. 4: Pick the right shoes for
your ride. So you've given up the cycling shoes, you've given up the idea that
you're gonna set some kind of personal bests on your commute to work in the
winter time, or any kind of winter ride. I mean riding in the winter is slower
anyway so what's most important is keeping your feet warm. So what do you wear?
A couple suggestions for you. If you are geared up for cycling and you
are one of those people who likes to dress athletically, get a pair of these .
These are like mid-level hiking boots, maybe three season maybe fall
maybe winter hiking boots anything like that will work. These are pretty good.
They're sleek enough that you can still ride quickly. They're waterproof so I
don't mind them getting wet. I don't mind them getting dirty. There's enough room
to stuff some warm socks in there and for a lot of those rides, these work
really well. I wear these on some rides when it gets down to about -10 C,
-15 C. if it gets really cold, like really
really cold, give it all up and bring out the big guns.
Just just wear the warmest boots you've got. It's important to keep
your feet warm, these are great. They're kind of big and they're bulky they're
not great on the bike but they're super warm and keep me warm and comfortable
and keep me going even on those really really cold days I've worn these down to
-20 C, -25 C, even colder than, that so these are a great option.
But that's if you're dressing specifically for your ride. What if
you're dressing for your destination? What if you need something to wear to
get to work and to wear at work as well? Well, this is the thing that really
opened my eyes to this and I'm wearing them right now. These these are my
beloved Blundstones. You don't need to wear Blundstones but I love these boots.
They're not insulated or anything so I still need to wear warm socks but I can
stuff them in there they keep my feet warm on those average winter days and I
can wear them all day at work too. So it's really key for me to find boots
that I can wear on my ride and where I'm going as well. So these were a life-changer
for me. I wear them probably too much, almost every day of the winter and
I love them. So there you go. There are a few tips for you, OK, tip No. 5:
let's call this one the bread-bag hack. So I've never tried this before but I've
heard it from a lot of people. It's a little weird but some people swear by
it. When it's really cold and you're having no luck keeping your feet warm,
get it a little plastic bag, maybe an old bread bag, maybe a little bag like this
and actually stick your foot into that bag,
and then shove that into your shoe. Now I can't imagine how sweaty your foot would
get, but if you think about it, it probably does a decent job of keeping that body
heat in there. So I don't know, I've never tried it, but if you're desperate give it
a whirl and let me know how it goes. The last thing I want to say is: don't
neglect your feet! Cold toes means a bad ride. I should have said at the beginning.
Anyway, see you next time!