In a well thought out system, clothes provide 2 functions in terms of keeping us warm. They protect the heat that our body produces and they keep out the cold. But if our body produces little heat, no amount of clothes will help. Nor will heated clothing be nearly as effective.

Simply put, eating allows our body to produce heat. What we eat determines the type of heat we produce ie stable and long-lasting flame vs an intense but short-lived one. But eat we must.

In addition, we consume more calories when fighting the cold. We also consume more calories when concentrating for sustained periods ie riding when it's dark and rainy. So expect to consume more calories over a twelve hour period than you normally would. This is no time to be concerned about diets. Don't worry, you'll burn it all!

So it's important that our plan during cold weather riding involve eating a sufficient amount of high energy food to stoke our furnace. Normally, I have an assortment of quality complex carbohydrate bars as well as protein bars with me (just visit any WalMart). They contain a decent carb to fat ratio or protein to fat ratio. I'll munch a little on the protein bar throughout the day in order to get my daily protein needs but rely on the complex carbohydrate bars for heat-producing energy. Not only are they convenient, but munching on them helps me fight the temptation of junk food whenever I gas up. You'd be surprised how much junk food you can put away in ten minutes if you let a craving develop!

During a cold weather ride, what I choose to eat can be compared to building a campfire.

Since digesting is one of our body's most energy-sapping processes, and since digesting food produces heat, a little thought here goes a long way. You want to avoid eating too much at any one time, especially high fat foods. Just as you wouldn't choke a campfire down with 5 or 6 logs, you don't want to bog your digestive system down with a heavy load. Another way to optimize is to make sure you chew your food well. This will place a lower stress on your digestive system than if you just wolf something down. Maybe a little technical but, when the going gets tough, it all makes a difference.