Today temps were around the freezing mark. It occurred to me that it sure does take longer to dress for a winter ride than a summer one. In summer, I throw on padded shorts, MTB shorts, a jersey, a do-rag on the head and some sandals or shoes and socks. Good to go, save for sunscreen application.
In winter, even a light dress day looks like this: sock liners and padded shorts followed by a smartwool base layer, with the base layer covering the sock liners and the socks themelves pulled on over the base layer's lower legs. Add insulated pants and boots, and the lower body is done. Now a thin mid layer on the torso and a do rag or insulated hat on the head. Add gloves, helmet, glasses, and you're almost ready. Now add spare layers and heavier gloves to the trunk bag before going back in to don helmet, glasses, and gloves.
Even the simple act of tying the laces on my boots is rendered more difficult by the fact that my paired sock liners and socks mean the laces must be adjusted to be tight enough but not too tight last they hurt circulation and make my feet prematurely cold despite any insulation. Donning socks over sock liners is similarly fiddly: you not only can't end up with any wrinkles or folds, it's also critical to start with the sock liner loose enough on the toes that when the sock is pulled on over it, it ends up taught on the foot without being tight. Tight equals toes falling asleep and bad circulation. Taught equals comfort for hours. The difference is...less than I would like but pretty solid with experience.
Donning sock liners is a PITA, but I find that my feet stay warmer when I use them vs. when I don't. Provided I use them correctly, of course
. They nevertheless add to the effort required to get ready to hit the saddle, as do the rest of the winter clothing options.
Summertime is much easier, even with sun screen. I typically apply that first thing, wait ~15min for it to set, then get dressed and roll. That delay easily accounts for a lot of winter prep time, but in summer I merely sit and read my way through the curing time. In winter even the smallest things take longer and require extra consideration and/or fiddling. Get something wrong and you suffer, cut the ride short, or both.
That said, some of my most memorable rides were undertaken in winter. It takes more effort to gear up for the cold, but it sure is worth that effort. It also gets easier with repetition: my first few winter rides are always...rough. It's so much easier to do just about anything else. Still, if I can hit a certain minimum number of rides, it gets easier. Never easier than in summer, but so very worthwhile.