after several years of being a 3 season daily bike commuter, i had committed myself this fall to riding through as much of the winter as i could handle. then i got in a wreck due to an idiot cab driver back on dec. 5th, and though the crash was a lot more minor than it could have been, my wrist was pretty messed up and my hopes of keeping my cycling up through the winter were dashed. through the month of december i allowed my wrist to heal as i longed to be back on the bike.

in the meanwhile, i got fat again (not exercising & the holidays is a lethal combination for your waistline). feeling disgusted with myself, i made a new years resolution that i would rededicate myself to biking to work as often as i possibly could this winter. i already had the schwalbe studded tires that i ordered in the fall in anticipation of a season of winter bike commuting, so i slapped them on my old raleigh MTB and i'm now on day 4 of january bike commuting in chicago! i feel like i'm now officially in the club of REAL bike commuters - the hardcore nutjobs who laugh at old man winter's wrath.

my ride is long, 15 miles each way, and wickedly cold when the winds are whipping off the lake, but it feels oh so joyously glorious to be back in the saddle again. my whole world is SO MUCH FREAKING BETTER when i'm riding daily.

i can't believe i'm really doing it, it's so great to be back!

Congrats! Isn't it great to get back to something you enjoy? Sorry to hear about your wreck. What did the cab do, cut you off?

I also missed several weeks of riding in December due to getting the flu, vacation from work, and snow (I don't have studded tires and do not feel safe taking the lane the whole ride to work due to snow in the bike lane). I put on 5lbs easily, maybe more, and I'm just now starting to work it back off. I think my body was still craving the same amount of calories I was eating when I spent 5 hours on my bike each week...lethal combination indeed!

Love it! Let's cut into man winter with our studs and woolies and bacalavas and let him know that we can take anything he gives us! Why's he messin' with us? Frickin' idiot!

I love it, too. Went to lunch on my bike and got called an idoit. Yet I enjoyed it.

Hats off to you, from here in Boston-- i have the same mileage in my winter commute or maybe a little more, and am also committed because I don't have a car. It's cold sometimes, but it's funny how, as soon as I get on the bike, it transforms into fun. WAY better than getting in a car, anyway.

Happy riding and I am rooting for you this winter.

yeah, pretty much, i was heading straight through an intersection and a cabbie cut me off to make a right hand turn. i swerved to avoid a collision, but i just went into the curb and then down hard. i never did make contact with the cab, and of course he didn't stop. he probably never saw me. i think most cabbies are legally blind as it is........

but other than the bum wrist and a nasty, blood-spurting gash on the chin, i was pretty much in one piece, and the bike came through with only a busted bar end. it could've have been a lot worse, but i guess we all say that anytime we don't die

That's exactly how I faced my first winter. I gave myself an out if it got to be too much to deal with. Five winters later and I still haven't found the limit--winter winds whipping off the lake, lake effect squalls, and all.

I love biking in the winter time! I feel so accomplished when I get to work and I am actually sweating in the winter.

Now 35 degrees is nothing to me, and 45 is beautiful.

Sure my hands get numb at the fingernail area, but after a while I barely notice the pain

Welcome to the Dark Side.

it is cool how winter biking can totally skew your sense of temperature. after only 1 week of bike commuting in chicago with morning temps in the low 20s and windchills in the low teens, 35 degrees would feel balmy and 45 would feel downright tropical!

I think riding during the winter months is a good deal. I feel like I'm beating mother nature. And really, there is no excuse. In order to do it, one needs to make the monetary investment and get what you need -- whether it is some quality rain/snow gear or a snow plow on in the front of your bike.

Good for you. I quit after the first big storm of the season, the ice, snow, salt, wind and big drop in temperature did me in. But I'm itching to get out again when it's just cold.

I don't make any effort to bike daily in the winter, and often bus in the morning and walk home (walking both ways today, since there's a snowfall warning). But it is a lot of fun. When the temperature gets up into single digits (I guess this would be around 15F at the low end), it's just a blast to be out on a bike. And the bragging rights from colder days just bring out the cave man in me.

Hey, don't blame the bike for being called names! ;-0

Truthfully Steely Dan, the best part is people's comments when you show up for work and when you leave.

oh, i've already received plenty of "you're absolutely nuts" and "you're crazy" compliments around the office just in my first week.