madfiNch

It was cold today in Mpls. This morning when I got up, the temp was 5 - 8 degrees (depending on which website you looked at) with a real feel of -15 - -7 degrees! The forecast said the high would be around 20 degrees, but I don’t think it ever got above 14. O_o
I dressed pretty warmly. I wore two long sleeved t-shirts and a short sleeved one plus a rain/wind shell jacket. On my legs I wore bike shorts, sweat pants, and rain/wind shell pants. On my face I had a thin balaclava and a skull cap on top of that and I sure was glad that I got my new ski goggles yesterday! I just wore regular shoes (Addias Sambas) with two pairs of socks and a pair of ski mittens for my hands (very warm – my hands were super toasty the whole time and I didn’t even use the fleece inserts!).
The tops of my thighs got a little cold on the way to work, but they were okay on the way home. My toes got cold both ways. I guess I’ll have to add a pair of long underwear and use my boots on colder days. I learned that ski goggles tend to push the snot right out of my nose, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything! My eyes didn’t water and my face stayed warm.
Up until about 20 minutes ago I was still cold from the ride home (it’s now 8:20. I got home at 5:30)!!!

Otherwise I had a good time. The paths were relatively vacant of both pedestrians and cyclists today (and even animals, come to think of it). I saw many patches of black ice. That was a little scary. I am going to have to get some studded tires for one of my bikes soon, I think.

Dark:


Reflecty:


Edit: Oh yeah, and another thing: I had the worst time trying to get into my pedal clips! I think it was because of the double socks. Geeze, it was like trying to learn how to use clips all over again! I can't wait until I try it with boots on...

LittleBigMan

Dang, Boy.

Ride 'em!

ralph12

Toe clips FTW!

Also...that is hardcore. I can't believe you ride in that kind of weather. I wish I had that kind of wherewithal!

ax0n

Not like you can tell through all the clothing, but that's a lady.

madfiNch

Ya, thanks

I had figured it was plainly obvious because of my womens-specific mittens!


I can't think about the fact that I'm out in ridiculously cold weather. It just has to be a mode of transportation. It's how I get around and how I get my exercise. We'll see what happens when it snows. I'd like to remain all in one piece...

ax0n

snow is easier than ice. I always curse at ice, but once it snows, everything is right in the world once again.

CliftonGK1

16*F last year, Redmond WA. I think ya look geared up just right for the weather!

pinkrobe

^^^^^ Bike ninja!

I'll post my outfit when it gets to -30C/-35F here.

Pajaro

The top picture has a vague firefighter look to it!

idcruiserman

In those temps I use a poly liner, fleece middle, and shell. We're not there yet. 20F this morning. The goggles might come in handy.

ItsJustMe

It was about 9*F this morning. I suited up a little more than I have in the past, mainly because yesterday at 25*F I was riding into a wicked headwind with nothing on my head but my helmet, and my ears were about gone by the time I got home. Without the headwind I'd have been OK, but better to be a little cozy than wondering if you're going to need skin grafts.

Anyway, this morning I wore two wool socks under my regular shoes, bike shorts and running pants (I generally go light on the legs so the heat has somewhere to go). Compression top and a light poly sweatshirt under my rain jacket, balaclava and some cheap, lined windproof gloves. I did switch to my full-wrap safety glasses (with prescription insert) instead of my skinny little glasses. Yesterday I got a lot of salt dust wafted into my face as cars passed; not fun.

Tonight, or at latest this weekend, I'm switching to platforms so I can start wearing boots.

I left my MP3 player in the car last night, and though I had just charged it, it ran 30 seconds then said "Low battery". It was fine once warmed up, and says it has 10+ hours of runtime left. I guess I'm glad I didn't go with LiIon for my headlight battery; I heard LiIon shuts down at cold temps and it appears true.

stockholm

+1 on the snow. Everything gets so quiet and oh, so beautiful.

CliftonGK1

Ninja please! I've got a reflecty vest, ankle strap, a couple strips on my backpack, and on my helmet. I'm no bike ninja!

ontheroadid

What goggles do you use, idcruiserman? Do they have clear lenses?

And yeah, +1 on snow over ice...

Flimflam

+1 to snow, too.

I should take a photo, I'm basically in full ninja mode (save for the hi-vis add-ons ) now, and it's not gone too cold yet (low 20s / -7C this morning has been one of the cooler starts so far).

It's cool, but a pain with the dressup/down, so far I'm not sick of it though (yet )

Intheloonybin

Was out there with you madfinch.

The only thing that was cold on me was my feet. I used hand warmers on my toes this morning (8*F) and it was ALOT better!

I found that my ski goggles are not tinted, so I used those this morning. They were awesome! Did not fog at all.

I'll back up and say that I bought some goggles from a bike shop and tried them on Tuesday. They were frosted over (on the inside) within two miles. They were only single lens- the ski goggles are dual lens.

FYI, the goggles are Carrrera's, and they have a polarized lens, so they are a little darker than clear, but I tried them in the dark this morning, and they were just fine.

Think we will need studded tires for Monday? I have not bought mine yet...

sumguy

madfinch - is the towel hanging from the strap used to wipe the goggles?

~29f, 17F with 20 mph wind chill. helmet, balacalva, visorgogs, wicking t-shirt, midweight w/w proof jacket, reflecty vest, polypro glove liners, CD LE Foul Weather tights, tennis shoes, socks. .5hr ride all good but the tights are a little cool. The visorgogs are ok as well. Sometimes have fogging issue but haven't tried treating them yet. Have full size ski goggles but the helmet pushes them practically to the end of my nose. Almost done winterizing.

pinkrobe

I like fresh snow too. I'll qualify that statement by saying that I like 1-4" of light, fluffy snow. It makes a "fwwwww" noise that I find appealing. When the snow gets all tracked up, and the salt/sand gets mixed in and its all brown - that sucks. At that point I prefer glare ice, because I have more traction and control than cagers do, and it's a lot faster to ride on.

madfiNch

No, it's my snot towel. I know, gross, but I have allergies! What can I say?

My goggles never fog. They're awesome. I got them from Dragon Alliance (who, by the way, sent me an actually very cool free hat with the purchase my goggles and a clear lens): https://www.dragonalliance.com/products/snow_goggles/
They're the womens DXSes.
If I ever need to wipe the goggles, my mittens have a squeegee on one of the thumbs and a zipper pocket on top with a soft lens cloth attached to a bungee thingy, so I'm covered! I got them from REI:
https://www.rei.com/product/755425

I wimped out today. Yesterday I did a roughly 20 mile commute - home to work to the U and back home again. I fought harsh winds all the way home and didn't get in until after 10. I was so cold and tired. I just couldn't bring myself to get on the bike today. I have to tomorrow, though. We're supposed to get our first snowstorm on Saturday!

I saw Nokians for sale at an LBS, so I'm going to have to go pick some up soon!

neilfein

madfinch, you look pretty intimidating in that getup. Resistance is futile!

I think we have the same trunk bag. How does yours hold up in the rain?

madfiNch

Yeah, my winter helmet with the pink flower on it is on its way (I hope). Then maybe I'll really be scary!!!

I don't know about the trunk bag and the rain. I only recently started using it for commuting. Because I'm going from work to the U etc, I wanted to be able to carry my heavy locks but not on my back. I've had some MAJOR heal-strike issues with my current commuter bike and panniers, so I gave up on them and started using the trunk bag for my heavy stuff. I only have locks, extra gloves, a patch kit, some misc tools and bungees and a spare tube in there, so it wouldn't really matter if anything got wet. I'll let you know if I find out, though!