BACK AT IT!!!

Didn't think I'd be on the bike again right away after the repair due to weather, sickness, sick family keeping me up all night. bleh... But pulled on the long-johns, Sahara pants, doubled the Smartwool socks, put on my base-layer/wool sweater/bike jacket combo, and decided I needed warmer hands. Used similar mittens to svenden's pictured, and hands were actually hot!

Can't rave enough about balaclavas for a thin layer of comfort around the head either.

Spreading TRON MAN-esque holiday cheer once again!

Hey Batjerk, your signature isn't working for me anymore. The wind is not drying me under the pile of clothes I wore.

Yeah, I noticed that, too. I'll have to remedy the situation...

I am sitting here, reading the forums and just checked the weather predictions for this evening.

Sure looks like I made a good buy yesterday when I picked up a pair of Ultra-Therm long underwear for a couple bucks. The temperature is supposed to drop quite a bit and the wind chill is going to be quite nasty.

For the ride in to work: Wool socks, Regular long johns, Insulated pants, Wicking layer shirt, Wool sweater, Windproof/waterproof outer shell jacket, Waterproof gloves, Hat and of course - helmet.

For the ride home I'll have in my bag: Ultra-Therm underwear, Extra thick wool socks (and a pair that are battery heated), Extra upper shirt layer, face masks, goggles, full head cover wind proof balaclava.

If it gets anywhere near the -27 area wind chill, I am going to be glad I did pack all that stuff. Just in case it gets too nasty, I will bring my bus pass. Hoping I don't wuss out and use it though..

Doesn't your torso get too hot?

With a t-shirt, sweat jacket, and waterproof/windproof shell, I'll sweat above 20°F.

With a sweater, I seem to sweat down to at least 5°F.

I have to be so bundled up this year before I get too hot. Last year I didn't wear goggles until the temp or windchill was below 10f. This year it's like 20. I don't get it. I've become a wimp.

Tomorrow it'll be my wool hat, a wind-proof lower-face mask, neck warmer, goggles, thin windproof but breathable jacket, breathable/wicking lightweight sweater, long-sleeved jersey, these bike pants I've got that are wind proof/breathable on the front and slightly vented on the back, and some wool socks and hiking boots. I have some windproof pants I may put on over if it really is -20 windchill. But I can wear all of that on a day when it's below zero or 20f and not really notice that much of a difference in my temperature.

Naw. I forgot to mention that the jacket had vents under each arm and in the back. Pretty handy to control the amount of heat.

So, I am running a Lake knock off that is a great shoe, except in extreme temps like today's windchill and I have hear of people running big sorel type boots. Does anyone here do that and how far is their commute? I run clipless and worry about the efficiency of using non clipped/caged platforms for 20+ miles everyday.
Thanks

I used Sorels and cheap platforms last year and it sorta sucked - my foot would slip off occasionally and the boots were kinda clunky. This year I bought some more expensive, smaller boots and a pair of those bmx-style wider pedals with the metal studs sticking out. It's better, but still not as awesome as clips/straps or clipped in. My commute is just under 4 miles, so it's tolerable. If I had your commute, I'd find a way to make the clipless setup work.

Unless the boots are super heavy, I don't think it will slow you down much, especially on the flat trails I think make up the bulk of your commute.

I rode my 28-mile roundtrip commute with Columbia winter boots quite a few times last year. Lately I hardly look for the cleated shoes on any of my upright bikes, unless I'm out for an intense road ride with a lot of hills trying to keep up with people like JohnE5 . I still greatly prefer the cleats on the recumbent though.

I've done a number of reasonably-paced 30+ mile rides on my folder in the last few weeks, and that bike only has platform pedals.

From bottom to top:

Medium thickness smartwool Socks. Seal skins. Brown Target dressy shoes.

Two pairs of thermal underwear bottoms, one of which is Smartwool. Mountain Hardwear wind blocker pants over that. A pair of shants over that. Belt.

Smartwool base layer top. Sweater. Mountain Hardwear wind blocker jacket.

A pair of 2-layer Mountain Hardwear mitts I just bought.

Smartwool balaclava. Ski goggles. Helmet with cover.

Oh yeah, my Ortlieb backback.

NICE! gimme back my 25F and above gloves then you scoundrel. 4realz though you could not have worn those today. mitts are the way to go. thats the biggest advantage of not having to use shifters in the winter.

sounds like you were flippin geared up, yo. the body(and hands,head,feet) wants what the body wants. all i know is i love gore windstopper and all its generic counterparts. 1oo% windproof but breathes a lot better then gore tex.

Jealous.

I think the equipment I had on today combined with the bike and the parts on it is actually more expensive than any car I've ever owned. This is my forth winter biking, and each winter, I make some large investment.

The mitts were this year's investment. $80 at Midwest Mountaineering!! But, there's a lobsterish removable inner layer, a mitt outer layer, a string on each to pull to tighten, a string to loosen, and a warming pad compartment by the wrist. The mitt goes well beyond my wrist, too. The palm and thumb have some sort of tough goat skin on them, so they don't wear through as fast.

I'm so gay for my new mitts. I think these are the ones.

those are nice. i wanted those really bad last winter but they were a little $$ for me. they have that awesome "dummy cord" that you can wear around the back of your neck under your jacket if you want. like little kids mittens, so they dont get lost. really nice when your putting on/taking off a lock or something.

i picked up these OR mitts last year. theyve been awesome. they fit my summer fingerless gloves under them perfectly and are warm enough even on days like today. if it gets to -20 this winter ill be putting a light fleece glove or mitten under it. for under $40 they're pretty sweet

also... my favorite mitten tip...: when i get to work, i take two pieces of 7X11 paper from my recycle bin and put then the long way and roll them up. i then shove the paper into the glove way to the end of it and then put my hand in there and kind of unroll the tube so that its pushing the glove open. then, i take the glove and prop it up so that the open end of the glove/tube is pressed up agains the fan at the back of my computer-letting the computer blow warm air into it. never fails to completely dry out the gloves in like an hour each or so. BLADOW!