Sports Science: Cold Weather and Track Cycling

Track racing is now in full swing with temperatures outside and inside the velodrome dropping. Over the years I’ve heard many comments such as: it’s colder than __________(insert noun of choice) in here!! So in this post let’s have a deeper look at the effects of cold temperature on track cycling.

For the sake of this blog I refer to cold temperatures as 5-10ºC range.

Is breathing cold air bad?

A reoccurring theme I’ve heard at the track is that doing hard efforts in the cold might be bad or “hurt” your lungs. Hard to maximal efforts in the cold are fine, and the air that reaches your lungs is fully warmed and humidified. Many endurance and team sports occur in cold weather for example cross country skiing, speed skating, cyclocross, and ice hockey*. However, compared to ambient conditions, colder air is generally dryer and irritation of the upper airways (i.e. cough, burning feeling) can occur. This is generally transient and goes away.   

A few things can be done. You can try and cover your mouth/nose as long as possible to keep the air you breathe in humidified (wearing a buff or mask). Obviously, that won’t work in a race as it will restrict your breathing, but you can wear it pre- and post-race. Secondly a good gradual warm-up is helpful for the respiratory system as well as well as your muscles^[1].

If you have persistent breathing issues with exercise talk with a sports medicine physician.

Is performance decreased in the cold?

I 100% agree that cold air is denser than hot air, therefore track times are slower. That is why most velodromes have a temperature in the 25-26ºC range. But keep in mind (mostly endurance riders) that this ambient temperature may hinder your performance (i.e. overheating can become an issue) if you are not adequately prepared.

From a physiology point of view the most important thing you can do is undergo a good warm-up and stay warm up until the last minute. Personally, I keep a fleece jacket on my shoulders unzipped until the last second. For cold nights on the boards a few minor wardrobe changes can make a huge difference. My go to is a Gore Windblocker base layer as wind takes away heat very quickly, leg warmers and a long sleeve jersey would also help reduce windchill.

Human’s really like staying within a narrow temperature range. When our temperature drops, blood is pulled from the periphery like your hands or legs and redirected to keep your core and essential organs warm^[1].

I won’t bore you with elaborate studies looking a deep core cooling or muscle cooling. Essentially it boils down to decreased body temperature negatively affects both sprint and endurance performance. If you do want more details, I cover a lot in this review I wrote^[2].

To finish the post here’s how you could go about your routine when it’s cold in the track:

• Come prepared with cold weather cycling kit and layers that are easy to put on and take off when in the infield
• Do a good warmup with a few openers wearing plenty of clothes to trap your heat, you can wear a buff if you find it helps
  • If you’re really prone too cold do your warmup on the rollers as there will be no windchill
• Sip warm sports mix
• After your warmup, put on additional clothing to keep the heat you generated
• If possible, spin your legs for 5min before your race
• Take off your layers at the very last moment
• Race with a wind blocking layer and leg warmers if needed
• After the race put on your layers again while you wait

*There is research looking at long term effect of cold air (sub-zero) and endurance exercise on respiratory function^[3] however 2-3 cooler nights per year at the velodrome is unlikely to have lasting effects.

References

References

1.              Cheung SS, Ainslie PN. Advanced environmental exercise physiology. 2nd ed. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics; 2022. 1 p.

2.              Richard NA, Koehle MS. Influence and Mechanisms of Action of Environmental Stimuli on Work Near and Above the Severe Domain Boundary (Critical Power). Sports Medicine – Open. 2022 Dec 1;8(1).

3.              Mäki-Heikkilä R, Koskela H, Karjalainen J, Parkkari J, Huhtala H, Valtonen M, et al. Cross-country skiers often experience respiratory symptoms during and after exercise but have a low prevalence of prolonged cough. BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2023 Jun;9(2):e001502.

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