do everything tsl says. he is the man! his tip on buying ONE pair of winter tights and putting them OVER your cycling shorts is right on. bib tights are crazy expensive and then you need multiple pairs, whereas I can wear regular tights for a week without washing.

the only thing I will add is that for your long 11-mile commute, you may find some additional problems. my commute is 13 miles each way, and I am mostly okay for the first 7-8 miles and then two things happen.

First, my toes get cold. this happens about 45 minutes in, even though I'm wearing the same Lake boots and have expensive wool socks. There are only two ways I can avoid this. First, get off for a minute or two and walk around at about the 45:00 mark. Second, skip clipless and wear some HUGE regular boots with two pairs of wool socks.

Second, I get headaches. I get really bad headaches when riding in the cold. I think the #1 thing to do about this is force yourself to drink water while you ride. if you drink a whole bottle when you arrive it's too late. you won't be thirsty, and it'll be a pain to move your balaclava, but you have to do it or you may get really nasty headaches.

oh - one more thing. lobster mitts keep my fingers warm under 20 degrees.