winter cyclists - what is the hurdle?

[lph]

I'm bumping this one up as well - I see I asked almost the same thing last year at this point

There are a lot of good points here. Feel free to add anything else!

Last year I ended up writing a starter guide for our intranet pages as mentioned, and bought a batch of thin wool helmet liners for resale. Very little feedback on the guide, though, so I'm not sure that's what people needed.

[Crankin]

I saw my response from last year; I want to add that my temperature threshold seems to be going down (I rode in 32-34 this week) and dark is no longer an issue. But the ice and snow, yes. My friend broke his hip last March, riding through a puddle on an AM commute, cornering, and skidding out, because the water he rode through was frozen (it had been down to 27 F that morning). I freaked out yesterday on my way home from any early AM ride, because some idiots on Barrett's Mill Rd. had their sprinklers on and the water had runout in the street. It was in the high thirties, but, still.
Again, I have the gear, clothing wise, but I don't have studded tires. I still would rather be x country skiing or snow shoeing when it's winter. If I get a job that is with a 7-8 mile commute when I graduate, I will consider commuting as much of the year as I can, but I am pretty sure snow and ice will still stop me.

[limewave]

I'm going to give a go to winter riding this year, my first attempt. I'm asking for studded tires for Christmas--for my hard tail mountain bike. There's a gravel road race in March that I really want to do, so winter training will be a must.

I'm thinking of taking off my clipless pedals and putting on flat pedals with toe clips so that I can wear warm shoes/boots when I ride. I'm also going to order a really large box of toe-warmers.

[Owlie]

The biggest problem for me last year was that winter was always busy, so trying to get rides in was the issue. That and the dark. I like riding in the mornings because it's not so busy, but trying to do that in winter isn't easy.

Now, it's the weather. Cleveland is colder (to a point) and wetter than Cincinnati, so if it gets below freezing, the road surfaces get interesting. Cleveland also gets a lot more snow thanks to the lake, so there's that to consider. While the roads near me last year were well-plowed and salted due to the proximity to a hospital, I don't know that that will be the case this year.

[Biciclista]

of course snow is rarely a problem here; but the combo that does it for me is rain AND dark. I am afraid of not being seen; and rain adds to the discomfort..
I rode today; it was dark, the streets are wet, but it was clear out. Car window visibility is very important to me.

[girlsubobscura]

I think that's fantastic of you to do this for your co-workers. One of my biggest obstacles was mental. As a grad student, I was afriad that I would have to shell out really large sums of cash for fancy bike specific winter gear, but with a few exceptions, I've found that my regular winter gear works fine. I ride flat mtb pedals, so my normal winter boots work fine with a small saddle adjustment to compensate for the thicker soles. I already had some of those tech pants that are fuzzy and made out of pop bottles (can't remember the fabric name right now) And regular winter coat and my skiing mittens work fine, although I am lusting over the lobster gloves, I haven't really been able to justify the expense yet. Last year I only rode until christmas, and gave up because I couldn't figure out how to make my eyes stop watering and then freezing from the wind, and how to get my glasses to stop fogging due to the balaclava redirecting my breath upwards. This year I've purchased a pair of ski goggles to fit over my prescription glasses, and those along with a pair of waterproof panniers are my only specific purchases for winter bike commuting. I think if you are compiling a list of gear, it might be helpful to highlight what a quality bike specific item does, and what a substitution from normal winter gear could be, if finances are an issue. That way people could decide which items it was most important to invest in right away, and what items they can borrow from their normal winter gear.

[girlsubobscura]

Oh, I also think you idea of middle(wo)man-ing the purchase of gear is a great Idea, and I would use that if someone did it at my job. Maybe you could make the gear guide a little like a sushi menu, with a column on the far right for people to check off specific items that you would be willing to acquire in bulk (like like gloves or the lights).