The first year I rode a bike through an Adirondack winter I bought an inexpensive pair of suede ankle-high boots with a rubber sole, an aggressive tread, a boxy toe, and rubber reinforcements around the toe and heel. For grocery runs—a round trip of 25 miles on hilly roads—these boots worked surprisingly well. I wore them over thick wool socks on a bike equipped with wide platform pedals, no toe clips. There was plenty of wriggle room for my toes (helps keep the blood flowing), the rubberized reinforcement kept wind and water outside where they belonged, and the sole was grippy enough to cope with slop and ice when I put my feet on the ground. For the four to five hours I spent on those grocery trips, my feet remained dry and warm. These 25 dollar Walmart® specials lasted two years before becoming hopelessly cracked, but they served me well for utility cycling in rotten weather, even if they were heavy and clunky.

My next shoes were dedicated cycling shoes designed by Performance for mountain biking, and they were far superior to my old stompers. The relatively stiff sole was a definite plus as this reduced the foot fatigue I developed after about an hour on the bike. The knobby tread gripped the pedals just enough to improve spinning efficiency, while giving me a good bite when I had to walk. They’re lightweight shoes, and just airy enough so I can avoid “hot foot syndrome” on sultry rides. Overall, they’re great shoes. There’s only one fly in the ointment. They’re not wind- or waterproof. That’s not a problem in warm rain—though the shoes get wet, I just stuff them with newspapers when I get home and they dry in a day. But the first time I wore them on a sloppy winter ride to town, I returned with…

 
The Agony of d’Feet  Bicyclists’ feet take a beating in winter. Cold wind slices through most bike shoes as if they’re made of tissue paper. Slush thickly plasters pedals and feet. Salty road spray soaks shoes and socks. The result? Numb soles, frostbitten toes, and overall misery. But life doesn’t have to be so hard. As I learned when wearing the stompers for cycling, it IS possible for your distal appendages to be warm and dry when bicycling in snowy, frigid, and wet conditions. But you don’t have to wear hiking boots to achieve this happy state of affairs. My first line of defense for battling the cold and the wet of winter with my mountain biking shoes was to wear…

 
Hiking Gaiters  You’ve seen them, and might even own a pair. After my first bout of cold feet in the Performance shoes, I bought an inexpensive pair of urethane coated nylon gaiters from Campmor and wore them over my legs and the tops of the shoes. Gaiters keep my feet and lower legs warm and dry—too warm on some days. The downside? Gaiters are generous in their girth and the extra fabric rubs against the chain. But they’re a versatile and cost-effective alternative to buying the more specialized…

 
Neoprene Toe Covers  These are little more than cups that fit over the front of your shoes. Here’s what mine look like:

 

 
The left photo shows my Performance toe covers worn over roadie shoes (the logo is reflective). What you can’t see is the cutout on the bottom which alows shoe cleats to engage clipless pedals (which I don’t use). The right side photo shows how small a package the nested toe covers are. I just stash them in my handlebar bag where they’re ready in case I’m caught. They keep out wind and wet, and are cozy down to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. When it’s colder than that, I resort to…

 
Lined Neoprene Booties  They’re stretchy (to a point), snugly fitting, ankle-high overboots intended to be worn over your bike shoes. Mine are made by Performance. Features include a rubber sole (surprisingly “sticky” when walking in snow), a zipper up the back, reflective strips and logos, and a fleece lining. Here’s a self portrait of the booties worn with tights:

 

 
When temperatures drop toward and below freezing, these booties are wonderfully warm and dry when worn with wool socks and my mountain biking shoes. When worn over my roadie shoes, however, the booties are too tight and compress my toes. Why? Because the roadie shoes have a doubled strap over the instep, while my mountain bike shoes do not.

Finding the right size bootie can be a challenge. My shoes are men’s size 8 yet the bootie which fits best is men’s size 10. If I wanted to wear them with the roadie shoes, I’d need a size 11 because of that instep strap, but then the toe would be too long.

Pulling the bootie on over shoes helps warm me up for the ride to come. The secret seems to be to nest the shoe’s toe firmly into the bootie, then smooth the neoprene from front to back. Now grasp both sides of the open zipper and zip up. This can be a struggle, but in the end the bootie is securely shut. The zipper does not have a tendency to work down while riding or walking, and the snug ankle fit doesn’t restrict spinning. Moreover, the bootie design slips easily into my toe clips, with room to spare. No danger of my foot refusing to pull free at a stoplight.

 
What about after the ride? Are the booties as hard to remove as they are to put on? No, happily. Unzip, peel back the sides a bit, hold the bootie heel with one hand and push down while lifting your shoe up. Slide back out of the bootie and you’re done.

If you have a bad back or aren’t as flexible as you once were, you might want to consider leaving the shoes inside the booties. Peel back the sides, reach in and untie the shoes, and slip your feet from the shoes, leaving them inside the bootie. Leaving shoes inside booties isn’t the best way to air them after a ride, but if they haven’t been soaked by sweat, that shouldn’t be a problem.

 
The Bottom Line?  Keep your feet warm and dry when riding in cold, wet, or sloppy conditions. Hiking gaiters might work for you, or a sturdy pair of mountain bike shoes designed to shed water and stop wind. But for versatile footwear that won’t break the bank, consider outfitting yourself with cycling toe covers for moderately chilly weather and rainy days, or booties for times when the temperature drops. They’re cost-effective yet very weather effective alternatives to avoiding the agony of d’feet!

 
Send a Comment