Winter Biking thus far

My goal to ride throughout the winter here in Chicago has been going well thus far. The last couple days of real sloppy snow has given me far more slides than I would like, but my commutes to work have been smooth. I am holding fast to the rule if it is below zero (wind-chill), I will not ride. It takes a little of the "man-up" thinking out of place to have a rule. I benefited greatly from the suggestions I found online and thought I would offer what I have learned so far, should anyone feel the inclination to get out and try to ride. I will say this, the trails are vacant along the lake here in Chicago. It's nice to have zero traffic out there.

So here are some suggestions that are working:

1. Layers. I use a long sleeve tech shirt with a fleece layer over it. The outer layer is a thin all weather shell. Seemingly these are not enough for the weather, but after 5 min. of riding my torso is plenty warm. I am still wearing my regular Dickies for legs and Smartwool socks. I have been using Lobster gloves with occasional inner Smartwool liners. For the head, a simple stocking cap that comes down over the ears for under the helmet.

2. Serious need for fenders. I went with Planet Bike Grunge Board and rear flipper fender. These have been amazing and no longer are my pants getting damp in either direction.

3. Lights. More often than not, I am using my Chrome messenger bag to and from work. I use two rear lights on the bag and on up front. So far my near misses have not been of the variety that lights would have prevented since getting lit up.

4. Eye protection. When I am riding in the few daylight hours, my Oakleys are doing the trick. The half-jackets are not fogging at all, which helps. For night riding, I am using the super, awesome goggles Tiff got me for Christmas. They are working great. I will say though that keeping the freezing wing out of my eyes means a trade-off on face wraps at this point. That will induce fogging badly, so I am relying on my thicker winter beard for help there. The feeling of ice in the beard is kinda fun too.

Above all else though, the key has been having fun. I am enjoying the challenge so far and that has made it fun to try. The days it is not fun are the ones I am feeling obligated to this goal. That or when I have headwind coming AND going. Hopefully this will help if anyone decides to give it a go.

The next step is to try and figure out a way to keep the coffee and work shirt warm. Heh.