A lot of folks know that cycling for me is a year round event. Well, during the winter, the weather turns dark, cold and wet. Now, it’s not nearly as cold as those folks that live in snowy weather climates, but it pretty much starts raining in Oct and then stops sometime around May. So, for the better part of the year, I’m wet, muddy and destroying my summer cycling shoes.
Generally, I wear overshoes. These are basically gloves for your shoes. Unfortunately, biking in the Pacific Northwest is kind of like standing in a stream for an hour so all that these things are really good for is keeping your feet a little warmer (though, certainly not dry). I’ve yet to find a pair of overshoes that actually keep my feet dry. And, one thing that I’ve found is that summer shoes — they tend to fall apart when wet.
So a solution…I just picked up a pair of Northwave Celsius J GTX Cycling Boots.
(Picture taken from http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Northwave_ Celsius_J_GTX_Cycling_Boots/5360032088/)
These things aren’t as light as my summer riding shoes, but they aren’t heavy either. I was expecting something like ski boots. Instead, they are only slightly heavier than my general riding shoes and honestly, a little more comfortable. I got these shoes because they have a gore tex shell (so they are suppose to be water proof) and a thermal lining (so they should be warm all year).
Anyway — I took them on their maden voyage today and after my first day in the evening rain, I’m finding that they are keeping my feet dry and toasty. Hopefully, as the weather turns nasty, I’ll find that these new boots will be the answer to my cold, wet feet. 🙂
–TR