I mostly hang out on the Touring forum, but I have a question for you serious commuters. I live in an area (the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon) and the problem that keeps me from commuting is that here in the winter we get lock down fog quite a bit. I'm talking about the stuff where you can't see from one telephone poll to the next. Add to this, I would be commuting in the dark probably 9 months out of 12 because of how early I start work. There would be no getting around the fact that I would have to get on a very busy street (2 lane, 45 mph--with a good shoulder and 3 feet of paved next to the fog line) for at least 2 miles to get to work. With the fog being so dense, how would I ever keep from getting hit? a couple of little red blinkeys would seem like a burp in a hurricane compared to the fog.

Perhaps someone on the boards here has a good suggestion, and or common experiences with the heavy fog and commuting in the dark/fog combo.

Thanks.

I'm about 200 miles North of you and experience the same stuff. I'm paranoid to even use the bike lanes in the city in those conditions. I (slowly) use the sidewalk!
Add to the fact your own visibility is pretty limited. It's hard to avoid broken glass, dead animals etc. under those conditions unless you ride at walking speed.
Drivers tend to drive with the right side tires on the fog line AND have tunnel vision. I wouldn't do it if at all possible.

If you can drive in the fog you can bike in the fog, you just need powerful lights. You can get a rear red light from BLT, I believe it is the super doppler dx, it is as bright as the law allows. Just as bright as any tail light on a car. You can also get extremely powerful front lights for your bike. Is is the safest way to travel? Well, I don't think it is any more dangerous that driving.

Hope this helps.

You can't underestimate the value of a good reflective vest. I live in Florida, and we get ridiculous fog on the coast. On those mornings, I wear a reflective vest which has flashing LEDs, plus I have two Planet Bike Superflash blinkies facing the rear(one on the bike, one on the helmet). The DiNotte headlight up front covers forward lighting. I'm not afraid in the fog. Getting wet is more of a concern. It sucks to break out the rain jacket in warm spring fog.

It gets very foggy here in Riga as well. I use two higher powered blinkies and a front blinky as well. They do very well in the fog as the light from the blinkies lights-up and colors the fog.

+1
If your good at DIY purchase a pair of fog lights at your local X-mart for about $15. You only need one so save the other one for another bike or sell it to another nighttime cyclist. The H-3 55-watt halogen bulb draws too much current and this is where your DIY skills will come in handy. Cut a round disk of circuit board 3/4" in diameter and notch as required so it will fit the mounting point in the reflector. Using solid 14-gage house wire solder your choice of bulb socket to the circuit board disk with battery leads so you can hook it up. Use caution to make sure the filament of your bulb is exactly the same distance from the surface of the circuit board disk so the beam pattern will be exactly the same as the H-3 bulb filament (11/16").

I worked as a copier technician in the Rogue valley for several years. So, I spent a lot of time driving in all conditions. I would say that the blinkers will help. However, if you want to be seen, wear a reflector (construction) vest. Even in the worst fog, those really stood out.

I rode my bike there also and it is a great area for bikers (well, other than trying to get from one side of Barnett and Riverside to the other). Because of the nature of my work (and that I lived in Hornbrook) I never did bike commute; however, if you live in town, or near a bus stop, it has evrything going for it. It is reasonably flat, it never gets to cold (cold, but not to cold) and the mornings are cool in the summer. When I was working there I always wanted to move closer to town but it was out of my price range.

You will have fun, do it.