Fall/ Winter 2011 Commuters

[radacrider]

.....the stupid time change.

Oh, how I wish that would be stopped, here in WA state its just stupid and doesn't do anything to help school kids.

+1 for sure!

[carlotta]

I rode this morning, the second colder commute of the year (35 on Friday, right around 32F this morning) and I'm pretty happy with my memory of what to wear when.....wool base-layer + light jacket, shorts + knee warmers + non-cycling capris (stylin', but functional...), wool buff under the helmet and my lighter full gloves. Toes were cold, I have new shoes since last winter and they're much more ventilated.......not cold enough for full booties yet so I may have to pick up some toe covers.

I rode most of the winter last year, hoping to get a few more days this year but I'm teaching at 8am a couple days a week which may result in train days--it's an hour commute in good weather and I'm not sure I'm willing/able to leave earlier if road conditions are less than ideal...

[Melalvai]

I sort of dread the first snow because I know I'll be so tired of it before the winter is over. But at the same time I look forward to it because it's a lot of fun for a while. Nonetheless I was relieved when today's prediction changed from snow to rain. It was a cold rain so I still got out the full gear. Except for the hole in my shoe, I stayed dry and warm!

[Tri Girl]

brrrr... first cold commute of the season. It was about 27F when I left home. I found the warmest wool coat (fashionable, too) a the Goodwill and I've been wearing that the last couple weeks. It was super warm, and my torso was just fine. Toes were good and hands were fine except for my thumbs which froze. I'm in the process of making myself some mittens and will double-reinforce the thumbs with extra wool insulation. For some reason my thumbs get so blasted cold while the rest of my digits remain toasty. Go figure.

[WindingRoad]

The weather here is yuk this week, low 30's to 40's with rain every time I look out the window. I really don't enjoy this kind of weather. I wish it would just go ahead and get cold. Snow is atleast rideable given it's not up to my hubs. I hear you all on daylight savings (wasting?), I am always charging up my headlight these days. I still hate driving to the gym when I can get m workout just by riding to work/school.

[ridebikeme]

I've had a few cool mornings, but considering the time of year that it is... well it has been fairly mild so far. We'll have rain coming in within the next couple of the studded tires... bu today when I rode home from work (5:30PM) it was 48! So, no complaints here... simply glad to be out and riding!



http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

[Tri Girl]

today was my coldest commute so far this year. It was 21 degrees (F). My upper body was fine (wool coat, wool sweater- and my homemade wool mittens) and even my legs were OK with tights and cycling tights over them- but my toes... boy howdy they got cold. Of course I was only wearing my ballet flats with a thin pair of socks, but still. My ride is only 15 min, but my toesies were frozen by the time I got to work. I guess I need to bust out the winter cycling shoes and quit riding in my cute work shoes.
I got to ride through ice-topped puddles, over crunchy piles of leaves, and ride by houses with fires in their fireplaces on the way to work. Took the long way home in the afternoon for an extra 8.5 miles of pure bliss.
Pedal On!

[eofelis]

My job is 4.5 miles away and I'm basically a year round bike commuter with 2 dedicated commuting bikes. Both are Novara Randonee frames from the 1990s. They made XS size ones back then that took 26" wheels. One is set up with flat bars and thumb shifters, and the other has drop bars and 9sp STIs.

Both have front/rear racks and fenders. The flat bar bike is mainly the winter rider, thumb shifters easy to use with heavy gloves. I rode the drop bar bike all summer.

I've had my winter gear out for the past month. Today was my coldest morning, 21F. I bundled up and was cold at first, but at my 2 mile mark I was pretty warmed up. By the time I got to work it was feeling balmy out. My route is "flat" but there are slight uphills that are only noticeable on a bike. Those warm me up.

My ride route home is slightly longer so I can ride up a 1/2 mile long hill. Then I ride through a few rolling subdivisions. Some houses have their xmas lights up. One subdv I ride through decorates heavily for xmas. In the past week there have been a few more lights up every evening.

Last year I rode most of the winter, except for about 4 weeks total when it was too cold (<15F) or snowy/icy. It's generally fairly dry here, not much snow.

[Crankin]

Tri Girl, you can get frostbite in just a few minutes at those temperatures. Your feet (and other extremities) should be toasty warm. Wool socks and chemical warmers, even if you don't wear cycling shoes, hiking boots, etc.

[Melalvai]

I am fondly remembering that 107F bike ride in Phoenix back in September. Frost on the ground today. It seems too early in the year for long johns and the wool undershirt already, but it's probably about the same as last year.

I keep telling myself I should just walk, it's close enough and I'd be more comfortable. But I just don't want to take the time. At some point I guess it'll take as long to suit up for biking as it does to walk, and then I'll walk!

[Melalvai]

This morning a facebook friend, Melissa, posted that she saw a woman trying to ride in the new fallen snow and it was pretty funny.

I had chosen to walk today, because I knew it would be slippery on a bike.

Melissa's friend Heather replied, "Was it the lady with the yellow coat who doesn't use the gears on her bike, peddling (sic) super fast but going no where? She was out in a terrible rain storm- grinning."

I don't know Heather but that description fits me to a T! Since I didn't bike today, the woman Melissa saw was not the woman Heather was talking about.

(I do use gears. I use low gears. I can get anywhere without breaking a sweat!)

[colby]

I have been bike commuting every day I can when I'm in Austin (about half my time right now), which ends up being about 9 days out of 10, plus biking everywhere else we go within 5 miles. I was home in eastern WA for 2 weeks around Thanksgiving (with a weekend in Seattle), and it was in the 40s, down into the 30s, maybe 15-20 on the clearest mornings/nights. There were some clear, dry days long after the last snow melted where I thought, boy, I could ride to work today, but then decided it was too cold to ride, or I had my dog, or whatever. Excuses! I do go out and run all winter, too, so the weather is the lamest excuse of all until the snow hits and biking is much more difficult.

I got back to Austin this week, which is in an unseasonably cold weather pattern this week with, of course, temps in the 40s, down into the 30s, and may crack upper 20s in the clearest mornings/nights (currently 28). Over the weekend it had rained, which made Monday's commute at 40 degrees seem colder than it should. I put on my arm warmers and toughed it out - I didn't bring any winter gear because, well, I figured I could tough it out or drive on the odd cold day. The return trip home was chilly, something like 39 degrees, overcast, and there's a long downhill section before I'm warm that makes me suffer.

Today... 33 degrees and overcast when I was leaving for work. By some happy accident I had forgotten to unpack my baselayers from my suitcase when we went to Seattle (I ran a half marathon while I was there) - ironically I didn't even wear them there. It made the ride so much more bearable. Still, cold fingers. I may have to break down and get full fingered gloves for the commute home on the sub-40 degree evenings. Downhill into the wind for a few minutes just sucks the warm out of me.

So, now I feel like a total terd for not riding to work when I was in the northwest. I think it's nature's way of proving that to me. "See, if you WANTED to do it, you COULD." Tomorrow will be a cold morning and probably a cold evening, but the sun will be back, which makes a big difference in the mornings.

We have sun from about 7am to 5:30pm, but I usually leave work in the dark after 6 - the worst traffic of my ride is right at the beginning and I'd rather leave a little later to avoid it, it also helps at the point I have to cross 3 car lanes into a left hand turn. My route is half on frontage roads with one highway crossing, and the rest on bike lane/bikeway. I have been knocked over by a car advancing to make an illegal right turn over a bikeway crosswalk once, but since then no car issues. I try to be a super-predictable cyclist, though, and Austin is a pretty bike-aware place.

Speaking of clothes, I bought a couple of skorts and shirts to see if I can avoid the change when the weather's not so hot that I get too sweaty and gross or cold that I have to wear real layers.

Austin's not much of a wintry place (to me - I know this is Defcon "SubZero Parka" to locals), but I do hope to ride every day through the winter. I do need to prepare for rain, though, so I'm definitely going to bring back my bike clothes that are more rain/wind appropriate.

There are people that I work with (software company) that try to bike commute regularly. I have probably talked to every single one of them, word spread fast

[soprano]

I'm in Austin, and I took the train Monday because of the wind and rain forecast. I'm good with cold and wind, but I don't own the rain gear. So, of course, it didn't rain at all that day.

My thermometer said 24 when I left this morning - pretty early freeze for us. Any colder and I think I'll switch to hiking boots.

[Tri Girl]

I haven't biked the last two days. Temps in low double digits, wind chill in single digits. Just too cold- even all bundled up. Gotta be careful of frostbite. Will ride again tomorrow since it's supposed to be in the 20's in the morning.

I hate when it's this cold and I don't ride and co-workers will say all sarcastically "soooooo... did you ride TODAY??" (knowing it's far too cold to ride). Makes me want to say something smart-alec-y- but I can't think of anything. I just say something to the effect that no, but I've biked every day the last 2 months. I wish I were better at sassing people.

[Thorn]

I'm still riding every day. So far we've managed to avoid snow so I'm still on my road bike. When the snow hits, I'll lose the MUP and will switch to the mountain bike with studs. We'll see, then, if I can keep it up.

Except for my toes, I'm keeping warm. Of course, I have a secret weapon -- hot flashes. Nothing like a well-timed hot flash to take away the wind chill. Now, if only I could learn to package all of the day's hot flashes and play them in my morning commute....