Commuting - It's good... uh... cold to be back

Two weeks in Kuala Lumpur, followed by a catching a cold, followed by the holidays (Company shuts down between Christmas and New Year) and I haven't commuted since early December. The temps in early December were oscillating between 30F and 50F. This morning was 17F so I had a bit of a rude welcome back. My ride is only 20mins each way so, as long as it the wind doesn't kick up, I can deal with that given my current gear. But any worse and I'll have to go shopping.

I've had to stop the fitness rides the last couple of weeks. I can deal with the cold for 20 mins, but for 1.5 to 2 hours riding, it's just too cold for me.

I know many of you deal with this on a routine basis, but this is unusual for us here in Alabama.

Just dress for it and you can do it. I did a 3 hour ride yesterday (1/3) with temps about 18F and wind 20-40MPH. The crosswinds were a bit much, but I was dressed for the part and had a good ride. Only annoyance was my water bottle froze.

There is no such thing as too cold, only insufficient clothing.

PS How is the cycling in Malaysia??

I layer up. My commute is about twenty minutes also. The winter forum is a good place to start. Some threads give a good perspective of what is needed in certain temperature ranges.

I usually start off feeling a little cold, but halfway through I don't really notice it much. I try to keep my head, face, feet, and hands warm though.

PS How is the cycling in Malaysia??

I was there for 10 days and counted exactly five commuters. The traffic is pretty wild and there are no provisions for bicycles so it looked like a dangerous place to ride a bike. Millions of cheap scooters, though. I guess that is their equivalent.