Winter cycling can infuse you with personal physical and psychological benefits far exceeding the indoor gym. Colder, shorter and darker days leads us to stay inside and be more sedentary, contributing to social isolation and moodiness that biking helps alleviate. Winter biking is one of the most efficient forms of exercise and is less likely to result in injuries compared to Nordic and alpine skiing. It burns more calories per mile than Nordic skiing and snowshoeing so it’s a great winter recreational activity to maintain weight and improve endurance.
However, winter’s challenge of cold, ice and snow requires proper protective apparel and safety gear for both you and your bicycle. While many internet sites provide advice and selections for cold weather clothing, gear that supports for airway health is often neglected.
Cold weather exercise is a respiratory and cardiovascular stressor. Physical activity increases the depth and rate of ventilation resulting in a shift from nose breathing at rest to combined nose-and-mouth breathing during exertion. Since the nose helps protect the airways from cold dry air by serving as a heat and moisture exchanger, winter exercise causes this protection to be bypassed and allows cold air to penetrate deeper into the airways.
Relative to the respiratory tract’s moisture, cold air is dry, and a shift from nose to more mouth breathing exposes the airway lining to the dehydrating and inflammatory effects of cold air which can trigger cough, bronchospasm and asthma. Facial skin exposure to cold air lone is enough to trigger asthma and cough in asthmatics and non-asthmatics even with nasal breathing.
The need for face and airway protection from the cold is why many cyclists have chosen the protection provided by ColdAvenger. Its unique design helps keep your face warm and your airways comfortable and humidified while allowing unrestricted mouth and nose breathing for maximal performance while cycling. ColdAvenger’s ventilator dynamically mixes inhaled cold dry air with exhaled hot humid air to maintain a microclimate of comfort and humidity around your face.
ColdAvenger was selected by independent testing as the cold weather mask out of many others to accompany an expedition team that crossed the Antarctica in the winter not only because it protects the face and airways in extreme cold but helps maintain core body temperature (www.thecoldestjourney.org). ColdAvenger regularly protects the face and airways of cyclists who compete in some of the toughest endurance cold weather races in the world like the Minnesota Arrowhead 135 (www.arrowheadultra.com), the Blizzard Fat Bike Race sponsored by the Devon Bicycle Association in Alberta, Canada (www.devonbicycleassociation.com), the Big Fat Ride in Anchorage, Alaska (www.bigfatride.com), the Actif Epica celebration of human resilience bicycle race in Manitoba, Canada (http://actifepi.ca), and the North Dakota B-B-Brrr Winter Classic bike race.
Whether you enjoy a casual winter ride or compete in extreme cold weather endurance cycling, protect your face and airways with ColdAvenger.