I train at ~5:30am most days in my unheated garage - it’s usually okay down to about 30-35F, just means I warm up without fans on for a bit longer (though I always turn them on before the first hard interval). Anything below that, the fans tend to freeze my fingers and toes, and I move my rollers inside. That beings said, I’m pretty over training in the cold at this point…so lately I’m moving indoors at more like 40F…I’m ready for warm weather.
Take all the above with a grain of salt - I live in North Carolina, so it’s not like we have bad winters to begin with.
I have my cave set up in my garage. I’m pretty cold tolerant - have lived in Wisconsin and gone running and XX skiing when it’s -20 out.
Now I’m in a warmer climate but I found that by insulating my garage door and using a space heater I can normalize the temp and it’s really nice. I’d be ok in the cold but I just enjoy my workouts more when. Insulation kit was maybe $60 and space heater was similar - I got one that has a temp sensor so you can set it to shut off when it gets to selected temp.
Bring your shoes inside! Starting with cold shoes vs warm shoes does make a major difference. this winter I put a small electric oil-heater in our garage as the wife is starting to use the treadmill more often. Really kept it quite warm – I was/ am very surprised at how big a difference it made. I run it very low.
Last winter it would be below 32F and I would start in thermal top, leg warmers, and a jacket. I would start shedding clothes as I got warmed up.
Seriously, warm shoes really make a shockingly big difference.
This winter hasn’t been so cold, but last winter I regularly trained in below freezing conditions. Performancewise I was fine, but my feet got pretty cold, even with wool socks and some oversocks. My knees would hurt quite a bit, until I got some knee warmers, which helped.
I had no problem staying warm on the rest of the body. I have a fairly powerful fan placed just in front of the handlebars, so I can reach it, to turn it on and adjust the flow, while I ride. On the most intense workouts, I had it on maximum, while wearing only bibs.
I did have another problem though, calibration. Because of the cold, it would take MUCH longer than the usual 10 minutes for my trainer (a Tacx Vortex) to warm up, so the wattage was very unreliable. A 2 x 8 test gave me a ftp of 316, when other rides showed it was not over 250! I have tested it recently and it takes about 40 minutes for it to warm up fully.
This is my problem as well. I chalk it up to more road like feeling, but it stinks when youre trying to keep things as close as possible to target watts.
I find that I don’t use the fan at all when its 20-40 degrees, I prob should, but I kinda like sweating hard when its cold, its cleansing.