Local company solves winter cycling dilemma

With the freezing weather we've been having, here's a cycling product you may be interested in.

Bar Mitts are a weatherproof covering for your handlebars. The neoprene sheaths maintain their form, allow you to easily slip your hands in and out of them, and still allow you to access your bike's brakes and shifters.

Bar Mitts are even made locally just over the hill in Washoe Valley.

From the Bar Mitts website:

"BAR MITTS evolved from many years of hang gliding and cold winter rides. Hang gliding mitts are used on a straight steering control bar.

"During the cold months, I used my hang gliding mitts on top of my bicycle handle bars.

"However, as one can imagine, not being on the shifter and brake levers had its downfalls especially when it came to descents and emergency braking.

"For years, I designed various Bar Mitt prototypes that enclosed the shifter and brake levers. I am so pleased that the final product is now available for sale."

The freezing windchill is much greater during the faster speeds of a road bike, making it that much harder to keep your hands warm. There are other bar cover products on the market, but Bar Mitts is one of the few manufactures I've seen that creates an application for road bike style drop bars.

This is good news for road bikers in Northern Nevada. Even in the dead of winter, we still have many sunny days that melt the ice on the roads and dry off the blacktop.

When the snow gets too deep to ride off-road, hopping on the road bike may be our only option available. And since cold hands are one of the number one drawbacks to riding in the cold, the Bar Mitts may help you eliminate those excuses not to get out and ride this winter.

Further information:

The Bar Mitts website is barmitts.com.

• Read more of Jeff Moser's posts at bikecarson.com.