Winter Cycling - gearing up for the coming winter

what have you guys done or purchased? what goals do you have set for yourself?

i want to be able to ride a minimum of 200-300 a month not including commute.

i also would like to try a winter century ride.

I'm just starting to read this forum, after I saw a post from Mike on a different thread about winterizing your bike. Most of the links from the beginning of the thread are now bad... We should start new a new link thread with favorite gear.

I have a lot of dogsled gear... I'm thinking of using my steger mukluks on platforms. I know you want stiff soles for biking, but I really like being able to move my feet in the cold, and breaking down seems pretty likely...

I did last year on a hybrid with platforms and hiking boots. This year will be a Trek Portland and clipless. (Yes, the Portland will get real fenders when I get it home, and that stainless steel Tubus rack.)

I have the new rig on layaway at the LBS and I'm waiting for the Lake winter cycling boots (http://www.lakecycling.com/Category.aspx?CategoryID=36) to hit the shelves.

This year I hope to do more recreational rides. Last year, other than my commuting and errands, all I did was our weekly Tuesday night group ride. I really enjoyed that, but never went out on my own just for fun.

I may pick up some odds and ends in the clothing department, but what I wore last year worked well enough. And of course there's still plenty of meat left on my Nokian W106s.

Goals?

Have some reliable beater ready for winter, something I won't have to do maintenance on other then adding oil or so. I authenticly hate having to do stuff on my bike when it's -15 to -40, it's just nasty. Would be a plus if it lasted more then 1-2 years, too.

Guess that's about it.

Hmm, I hope to try to do winter biking. I've been off the bike for several years; but about 8 years ago I would bike 4 miles from home to campus, regardless of weather. I recall 10F being too cold. Today, since I ride for fun/fitness (not out of necessity), it would be hard for me to bike in say colder than 20F--or whatever my new threshold is (be it cold air or layer count).

What I'm worried about is sweat: right now, being out of shape, I sweat profusely. Yeah, if I go slower--a lot slower--it would be ok, but that kills off the fitness part. I live in a hilly area, so cranking up a hill means sweat--and rolling down the other side means freeze. I don't have all the "good" layers of clothes, and it'd be nuisance to stop every mile and adjust. On my 4 mile commute, I did have a killer hill to start, then it was ok for the rest--but really, it was only like 12-15 minutes of riding.

So, I guess my goal would be to go out at least once. :)

I'm looking at a Trek 820 today to take on the winter duties. I keep scanning Nashbar for studded tires but I haven't seen anything yet.

Goals ? To not wipe out on black ice at 40 kmh smashing my hip from the fall, while sliding across 2 lanes of a busy highway at 6:30 am and finally slamming into the concrete meridian before coming to a stop.

Other than that...try to find a better solution to wet feet than sandals and goretex socks.

My goal is to survive my 5th Winter of daily riding.

I'm building up a single speed winter road bike with 38mm 700c tires out of an old crome moly 27 inch ten speed I got for ten dollars. Probably rebuild my last years winter mountain bike into a single speed also but with lower gearing than the road bike and wider more knobby tires and fenders for more wet and snowy or slushy conditions.

I've been ready since last winter, and the winter before, and....
I never understood the idea behind a "winter beater" bike. I rode my aluminum hard tail mountain bike all winter last year and it is just fine, I just had to replace a few of the bolts holding the disc rotors on because of corrosion. Maybe it's because I took the time to clean my bike once a week, I dunno.
I do know one thing for sure, I'll put the platorm pedals on my bike this winter. Last year I left work at 3:00 am one morning with 3 inches of snow on the ground, by the time I had gona 10 miles (which was well over an hour and a half) there was well over twice that much and riding in it was impossible. Walking 4 miles in clipless sandals while dragging a bike in the snow at 5:00am is not fun and I do not plan on doing it again.

I'm building a new set of wheels, Velocity Aeroheads with an OC rear on Dura Ace 9 speed hubs, Sapim spokes. They will be shod with a fresh set of Nokians (If I can find them). My only real riding goal is to avoid injury until March or April when I can start working on road race base again. Such is life above the 64th parallel.

What I have purchased recently in preparation for the coming winter, is a new ceramic heater to dry my clothes at work. Cant stand putting on wet clothes at the end of a work day.

I wish I had the luxury of treating my winter riding as something I do of my own volition, to keep up with training :)

Living car free has it's ups and downs, and winter cycling has a few more downs than ups. Winter cycling is almost always fun for me though, it's a real challenge and there's a lot of natural highs you just can get from cycling in spring, summer, and fall.

Not a single piece of my winter gear is specific for cycling. A thick wool cap, ski gloves, doubled socks... not a whole lot of weight saving, but my wallet definitely feels heavier :) The only expensive part of the whole getup in my ColdGear Under Armour, which I couldn't live without.

I'm lucky enough that corrosion is a small concern. It doesn't usually snow here, just nine months of what seems like solid raining. So no salt on the roads means that I am comfortable taking out my Specialized MTB. Get some new fenders and check out some deals on rain gear and I should be ready for my first winter commuting.