The neck thing is from..................TARGET. I also have a Trek lighter weight balaclava underneath of it. It is hard to see but there is also an earband that is supposed to go over one's ears. I use i here to cover the nose and cheeks, when warranted. In the photo, the earband is down over the chin, to prevent fogging. It works great when on the bike however.

Naisme, you wimp! Am I the only one brave enough to say it? Of course, I've driven to work the past few days myself. I think that that we are all getting soft in the second term of this administration( yes, I can even blame Bush for this!).

-10F is COLD. Not wimpy at all. I would want to keep commuting in weather that cold, but I got dangerously cold in 30 degree weather over an 8 mile ride last time I tried it. With good cold weather gear it's doable, but it definitely takes guts. The hardest part is keeping the extremities warm. By the time I got home on that cold ride, my legs were tingling and my hands were numb - and I was wearing ski gloves and everything.

Mechanics start getting problematic in weather that cold, too. I tooled around the UMass Amherst campus on my bike after the first real snowfall - December 20, I think. It was about 1 degree F that morning. I was riding by the campus pond when I started noticing that my pedals were slipping. I thought it was chain skip from slippery cogs, but it became clear that it wasn't my chain - it was my freewheel! It was so cold that the pawls weren't moving out all the way. They must not have been fully engaged, so the freewheel would slip every few rotations, then catch again with a *clunk!*. ICEBIKE has a section on winterizing cassettes (I use a freewheel) for folks regularly riding in weather this cold. Apparently it's a common problem! Sorta like a slipping clutch in a car. Unnerving...

Yes, slipping freewheel / cassette is very unnerving. You need thinner lubricant for the pawls (the procedure is described in the Icebike web site). I suggest you do this if you ride frequently in cold temps, as you certainly do not want it to slip when you're cranking up a hill, for example.

I just saw a guy outside a local auto parts store, feverishly spraying his 8 speed cogs with a lubricant. The cogs were turning freely every which way, he knew what the problem was and he also realised he was not going to fix it with spray. I think he finally took his bike inside the store to defreeze. And it was not even that cold, maybe -7C or something. I hope he came out all right.

--J

I tried it last year. Rode to work (14mi) with temps at 0F and windchills -15. Of course I wanted to see the look on everyones face when I rode in. I got about 7mi when I had to stop. The foot warmers in my boots were SO warm they made my feet sweat. The temp was cold enough to freeze the foot warmers. When I stopped, my feet were really cold. I took the foot warmer out and literally skipped it across the pavement. I had to walk a while to get circulation back in my feet.

I'm much more careful with the cold temps now. I'll ride in negative temps....just not to work. A short trip around the neighborhood or to the store. It can really be dangerous.

It would suck to freeze a toe or finger and not be able to ride when the weather is nice!

We don't have Wally-world or K-mart here. Target has lots of microfiber and coolmax stuff but not much good winterstuff here.. WOW 3 layers on the neck! If you wear less neck-layers do your feet get cold then?