So there’s a race here in Chicago on Sunday that I may be able to do, but the high for the day is supposed to be around 15 degrees. I’ve never raced in that kind of cold and would love to hear from anyone who has. Any tips or advice?
Heck no…we’re crossing in 5-10" of snow this weekend!
No leg/knee warmers for me. Skin to win…
I’ve never raced in anything like that, but I still love being out in the cold. Dress properly for it and be sure to have a warm refuge for when you’re done and you can still enjoy it! If you go in with the attitude of “having fun” being the goal, there’s no reason you can’t walk away happy. If you’re aiming to be super competitive about the whole thing there are a lot of things that could go wrong.
I’m cool with the snow. It’s the temp that scares me. I think I will ignore your bare leg advice and opt for tights as you are clearly a mad man. 
15F…balmy. See if you can find a report for the first year of the old Supercup series. There was a race in Longmont CO. I think the high for the day was -2F. I remember…everybody sat in the car with the heat on as their WU. we then all hopped out, raced, and ran back to the car. that was brutal.
Kurt
Not really a mad man…my cross is terrible this year.
The key is Fast Freddy’s. It does wonders…if you’re not familiar, do a search. Otherwise, Vaseline works “okay” as a barrier, esp on the legs. Definatley want clean-shaven legs in the cold. Hair makes em’ cold.
Otherwise, a hat does more to keep me warm than leg warmers. Have fun!
15 is not too cold, just be prepared. Have plenty of clothes for your warmup. You might want a separate set of clothes for your warmup and the race. That way you can work up a sweat warming up, but have dry clothes for the race. Don’t wear too much for the race. You will get warm racing, and you don’t want to get soaking wet from sweat. Your hands and feet are the most vulnerable; protect them as best you can, although toe warmers and/or booties probably won’t stay on for the race.
Have plenty of towels and warm clothes for afterwards, and a nice hot drink ( I prefer hot chocolate, maybe with a little Bailey’s ). Ride around after the race to warm down, but then get dry and changed ASAP.
Bring a trainer and warm up on that to minimize the wind effect, but definitely talk a few recon laps on the course also.
Warm up with mittens and shoe covers and keep moving prior to the start and then ride like the wind. Bring a thermos of hot tea for after. If you’ve got the scratch, Assos makes some nice tights with micro-fleece in them. A buddy has them and loves them. I don’t see any need to bail on it.
HA! 15 degrees??? LUXURY!!! My first Boulder Mountain Tour 32K xc ski race was done in - 22 (NEGATIVE 22) degrees on 10 inches of fresh snow.
15 won’t be too bad as others have said. I would go with leg and arm warmers for the race and maybe double up my jersey but that would be about it. I would certainly get bundled up for warm up though.
They had the U.S. Nats at Kansas City a few years ago in -10f (actual) with a blustery wind. I heard there was some grumbling
It’s the Illinois State Championships - We’ll be there! Last year the State Championships were barely 20F and we got 6" of snow the night before. Dress warmly - those lobster gloves by PI are the answer!
Did you race?
It wasn’t quite 15, more like 25 here in MI for the MI CX State Championships, but there was a 10 mph wind and the course was pretty wide open. I was ok with just knee warmers, long sleeve base layer, beanie, and lobster gloves. My hands and feet were pretty cold by the end of the race, but otherwise I was good. I did get pretty cold right after the race, and during the awards.
I got there 5 minutes late. Stupid Chicago Traffic. But I stuck around and watched and it was about 15 here (no cloud cover to keep all the heat in). The course was technical and I saw a lot of people go down. And considering I’d been at a weddding the night before in Cary, NC, had a few too many beers, and got up at the ass-crack of morning to fly back to Chicago, I wasn’t too disappointed.
Glad I skipped it…
You should have done it. Cold, nasty conditions is what cross is all about!
True, but I had my fair share of those type of races this year…including two awful CX icy mudbaths in Janesville and Whitewater…not to mention a super muddy XC race at the Norba in CO and the WORS race in Kewaunee. I think I’ve spent more time cleaning bikes this year than anything else!
After 6 months of CX and XC racing, I’m ready to not ride my bike for a month, sit on my warm & dry couch and not do a damn thing until base training starts after X-mas.