Great topic- I feel the crispness of Fall at night now here in Mass. Being as I think it's going to become my next change of address, and I've grown found of commuting (I have a goal of buying a pumpkin and strapping it to my rack on the back of my bike!) I figured I would ride as long as 'humanly possibly'. Minus mailbox incidences.

+1 on the skull cap. What little mtbing I did last year, the skull cap made me not realize how cold it was. I wore my leather Keens that I ride with and a pair of Bolgo (I can't remember how to spell it) running socks that are sooo nice. They are the grey ones, not the white ones. Even when my feet got wet they weren't really cold. I just bought whatever full coverage gloves I could find, nothing special, but I do put on a pair of the little stretch gloves sometimes under them. I have a balaclava and wore that a couple of times, but my big dilemma is the shell. I have not found a waterproof (or resistant for that matter)shell that I like or want to shell out (haha pun!) 150 bucks for. I guess I'm being cheap but to me, unless I know they are worth it I don't want to spend that much. If I could find that perfect shell with pit zips, a hood (is that common, the hood?) and the big pocket in the back. I would like a full zip but at this point, a pull over would work. A small pocket in the front would work too but most of all, it's gotta be BRIGHT!!!!!

And the lighte. I need a big a$$ brite lite on the back. I have the small catseye one for when I get stuck and need to ride in the dark for a short time, but I need a big one so people will see me. As far as the front, I've been looking at the Nightrider ones.

And of course, I'm buying a GPS for the road (Garmin NUVI 270-Costco has it for 189 instead of the 399 I've been seeing). I'm sure it's not water proof. But being lost in the cold would be the worst yet.

I already have the starbucks thermos for the water bottle cage. Don't forget that.

+1 on the hand warmers. Good idea on looking through my snowboard/winter stuff-I already have the layers, just need that 'perfect' shell that fits! Pearl Izumi is always too small. So they are out. Not sure about their mens stuff though...