FIRST! Here's some good winter riding advice at Bike Winter because it's getting colder and colder outside.
It's finally cold enough to have to cover my hands and ears and put away my Crocs. It's getting to be about that time that we start to think about the rougher weather ahead of us. The thrift store is becoming familiar with my face, as I've been stopping in looking for boots, gloves, jackets, long underwear and whatnot. My oversized messenger bag is getting chubbier by the day with all the extra layers I'm stowing in it, growing inversely proportionate to the temperature outside.
Last winter, I rode my bike well into December, but eventually became intimidated by the ice and the dark. The actual cold didn't have very much to do with it. I leave work at 6pm, and in the dead of the winter, 6pm is dark. A dark commute is dangerous. A slick commute is dangerous. Put them together and that's one dangerous bike ride. But I stay as visible as possible and remember that classic bit of sage advice typically reserved for small children: "They're as afraid of you as you are of them." Okay, some nights, it's more of a mantra... and okay, maybe it applies better to spiders. But I know after a couple years of bicycle commuting, I can say with confidence that it's the rare motorist that really wants to run you down. Not saying they don't exist... I'm just saying that most of them (if they see you) will meet you halfway whether they want to or not. All you have to do is be seen and your chances of survival increase significantly! Yay!
The really rough weather though, only applies to a very slight fraction of the days over the winter. Most days are a piece of cake. Where I live, they plow and salt the roads (eventually). After a while, the accumulation of salt will take care of any slight dusting of snow that most precipitation is over Chicago winters. Most days, it's only the cold and dark I have to contend with. Funny thing about buying winter accessories at the thrift store, the hideously bright items go last, and for cheap! I know that sometimes it's hard to leave the house looking like an 80's nightmare, but you have to ask yourself: what punishment in Fashion Hell is worth your fool neck here on earth?
About being cold... really all you have to be very concerned about are your fingers and toes. Don't go out in snowboots, winter gloves and your undies, but the most vulnerable part of you, by far will be all your digits. Make sure you are protecting them.
People ride in all kinds of footwear including, but not limited to: work boots, puffy moonboots, galoshes with several layers of socks inside, any kinda shoe with boot covers or even plastic grocery bags... This last option, although I've never done it myself, is apparantly highly effective in a pinch. Tie them on really good, of course, and tuck the hanging bits in to avoid getting them tangled in the various moving parts. I'm wearing my beloved, pink moon boots at the moment, but I tore an identical pair on my gnarly metal pedals before (a cautionary tale) and don't want these to go the same way. To that end, I've special ordered a pair of Bogs (I think I've mentioned before), and really, I'm rather excited to get 'em.
While at the thrift store, I have purchased gloves of varying thickness and sizes for my household. I intend to wear these in layers. I recently bought a nice, expensive pair of thick gloves that have worked very well for me so far. So well, actually, that whereever I ride, I show up with sweaty hands and soggy gloves. The gross part is when you get geared back up to go back the opposite direction, you have to put on sweaty gloves (ew). So, I plan on wearing layers of thin gloves (easily taken apart and dried separately), and removing them as I ride, according to warmth.
I had a very hard time convincing myself to ride in the cold. Still do, when it's morning and I'm freshly out of bed. I tend to get cagey and crabby in the wintertime. I hate the winter and hate being cold. I am NOT a winter person, and living as I do in the midwest, that's a handicap of sorts. You could never imagine unless you do it, how getting on a bike and getting moving- even if the wind is blowing and it's snowing buckets- will warm you up. It's true though that you will be cold for the first few minutes. But there's a solution.
I learned this from David, my cycling guru/mentor/sensai: Before you walk out the door, spend some time indoors with some or all of your gear on. Hat, gloves, boots, coat, balaclava, whathaveyou... and after about five minutes indoor with all your gear on, you will be grateful to get out into the cold. Because with all that on indoors, you are going to warm up fast! Maybe allow yourself that last five minutes to dawdle and finish your coffee. I've often found myself stepping out the door and immediately removing a layer or few that I'd thought I needed.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to what you want to do. No one but you can make you do it. Just believe me, it's not as bad as you think it's going to be (who am I trying to convince?).
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