"I didn't know about this of course, because the CTA is run by ******** babies who are too busy trying to figure out how to not drown in an inch of bathwater to bother figuring out a way to communicate to their ridership the true extent of their blistering failure"
I chuckled, loudly. The people in the coffee shop think I'm strange now.
I use a balaclava (just a tube of polar fleece, basically) and a warmish "cycling cap." It's actually not technically a cycling cap, but a "hipster hat" that I purchased at one of the trendy retail outfitters in Portland for 7 bucks. It's basically a tightfitting winter cap with a shortish bill. Even so I need to open up my helmet straps close to al the way to accomodate it. My holiday wish list this year is basically filled with cold weather biking clothes. In order of importance (for me, tking into consideration what I already have):
-Neoprene/goretex/whatever booties. Once I get these I will acheive bicycle-dork nirvana.
-Really nice wrm ski gloves. My current ones serve me well down to about 30 degrees.
-Bright cycling rain jacket. I have a running jacket that's bright yellow but it's not at all waterproof.
-Long-sleeve wool jerseys. Not so much for commuting/errand running though. I hear great things about wool though. Maybe a tight used wool sweater would do the same job just as well.
I already have lots of assorted polar fleece-type things.