I'm a southern girl who is currently living in Boston, so I've spent a lot of time working on my winter gear to keep me in my balmy happy zone.

I wear a thin fleece cap which covers my ears under my helmet, and over it I wear a water-resistant helmet cover. The inch of air space between those is a good bit of insulation.

For gloves, I go from full-fingered thin cycling gloves to some softshell gloves made by Seirus which have rubberized parts on the palm and thumb/forefinger, perfect for resting on the hoods- I wear these the majority of the time in the winter and they still look brand new. If it's really wet or cold, I go for the big puffy gloves with waterproof shells, and am glad that my cheapo Sora shifters have a thumb-shift lever that's easy to use with sausage-sized cold fingers!

As for feet, I prefer MTB shoes with a recessed cleat so shoe-covers just don't work. I discovered that using an old set of stretched-out shoes with neoprene waterproof socks over my regular socks will keep me dry in the worst of times and don't leave my feet soggy on an extended tour when the shoes will always soak up water, even in the shoe covers. With the waterproof socks, my shoes can be sopping and my feet are at most a little clammy from perspiration.