Thanks everyone

13f/-10c this morning with light falling snow. The sun came out this aftn, made me overheat a little. 12f/-11c. Some of the roads in the sub-divisions are start to clear up a little. But tom'rw were expecting -8f/-22c in the morning and single digits for the aftn.

My condolences to you, darthlefty.
Hypno Toad, is that a blackburn flea 2.0 front light? how's battery life? I have a rear (great battery life) and a front (terrible battery life). Strange, the difference.

Great evening commute last night. I pulled up to a 4-way stop at the same time as a car--we both stopped. Just as we stopped, some doofus on a huge full suspension E-bike...puts up his hand and blasts right through. I just had to shake my head.

Amazing sunrise this AM...entire sky ablaze! Lots of commuters out 11decC/51degF.

In those cold temperature I always wear a pair of compression short, a pair of cycling short, two base layer, a regular pant and a winter outer shell. On the upper body I have one base layer, one t-shirt, a wool shirt and and outer layer. I also have battery heated soles in my winter boots and -40°c rated alpin ski mitts. As you see I'm no tough guy, I'm just dressed properly.

Sorry to hear about your loss Darth.

Absolutely frigid: air temp was 16F / -9 C but the headwind made it much colder than that. My toes are still tingling here at my desk...even our work shower room was freezing.

We'll look forward to seeing you back in the saddle Darthlefty.

I should have ridden today. It was cold at 14F, but the road was clear from the ice storm a couple of days ago. I did bring my bike to ride home after work. High is only supposed to be 20F.

It is supposed to be colder tomorrow morning, single digits they say, but I'll probably ride anyway.

Good eye! Yep, the Blackburn Flea 2.0. Battery life isn't great, typically I get a couple days between charges, in deep cold I charge it daily. The Flea is a good secondary/safety light, and it mounts directly to my Bell Muni helmet (simple & easy). My primary light is a NiteRider 700.

edit - forgot to post: no ride today, it's snowboard coach night. I'd rather bike on these brutal cold days (-10F) than snowboard; you just don't work up as much body heat snowboarding. Oh well, the hill will be very quiet on a sub-zero day, no lift lines.

Ah damn, sorry for your loss

Ever test them to -40C/F? I've been out biking down to -20F (-29C); but it's extremely rare to get temps a lot colder than that around Minneapolis.

I tried something different today, to see how "normal" I could dress in this weather and still be presentable at work. It was 9°F and gusty - I've been kind of hoping for more serious weather this week but I've "lucked out" on that score with the freezing rain coming on Monday (off day) and the ice and snow has been during work hours. The snow didn't even stick and the forecast is clear until Sunday, so this morning was it.

So I took my faring bike, outfitting myself with work slacks, sweat pants, a thick cotton sweater and windbreaker. The windbreaker came off after a couple of miles and I'd have removed the sweat pants also but it was too cold to stop for long. As you might expect the cotton garments are somewhat damp, and I'll know better next time. It still feels strange to stroll in off the bike wearing street clothes, but not bundled up like everyone from their heated cars!

-3f/-19c this morning. All of my gear worked good. The goggles fogged up a bit, but I managed. The afternoon was -6f/-21c with some falling snow.

It was 2F this morning, and I had planned to ride to work... but then they increased the chance for snow this afternoon and I decided my bike (with narrow, slick tires) would be better off left in the garage another day.

The coldest I've ride was in december 2013, The temperature was -33°c, going as low as -41°c with the Windchill factor. On that ride I got 4 severe freeze burn on my legs and my butt but the hands, the feet and the head were just fine. That was the last time that I rode at temperature below -25°c.

Another cold one into the wind: -6F / -15C Really the only problem I have is fingers...every year I tell myself to by those lobster claw gloves....and every year I don't follow through.

DAMN! No good! Funny (odd) that the extremities were good, but the legs/butt were affected. Thanks for sharing.

My morning commute was interesting, I was enjoying the fresh snow (~1 inch), taking the long way on mostly bike trails, to avoid out of control drivers on the road. Wellllll, less than a mile from the office I see this on the bike trail:


(sorry for the blurry picture)

There is a highway on the left, the white SUV left the highway at speed, crushed a chain-link fence and was deeper down the slope on the right (the tow truck had pulled it up and out already). If I (or the other rider that left tracks in the snow this morning) had been there when this genius lost control.... well that would have been the end of my riding (& life). However, I know that the chances are better to win the lottery jackpot, so I'm not stressed about it. But my point, off-road bike trails do not save you from bad/out of control drivers. The only thing that makes people on bikes safe from out of control drivers - stop out of control drivers (tickets, jail, etc). Never gonna happen, just sayin'.

Broke my low record by a degree, -7F actual - a record I hope will stand, like, forever. It's supposed to get close to 20 this afternoon, a veritable heat wave

Thumbs up to you. I think the coolest I have ever biked is maybe 15°F or -10°Celsius.

just proves you're smarter than me!

That really is impressive! I haven't ventured out below 10F to date.

Ice covered roads kept me from riding again today. It's supposed to hit 40F this afternoon before the next system rolls in this evening. Freezing rain this time... oh joy!

From one sub-zero (F) rider to another - Tip o' the hat!

Rode in w/ my wife today, nice morning. Last weekend I got some nitto randonneur bars to replace the zooms that snapped on me the last time I rode this bike. They seemed to work great. Also got new housing and brake cables so the braking was wonderful. One thing though, I ordered a 5' section of brake housing (more than enough for both brake lines) but it only came with 4 ferrules or endcaps or whatever those things are called, so I had to pirate/salvage some rusty metal ones or old plastic ones for the 5 segments of housing I had to cut that one 5' section into. But anyway, it all worked today.

I wimped out on the 7F temps this morning. My wife brought my bike and me in and I will ride home after work. It will be about 27 degrees then, so not too bad. That will make 2 rides all week, kinda sad. Perhaps next week will be more normal for me.

Great riding yesterday. It was about 44 in the morning though still dark, and dry for my 9 miler to where I catch my bus. I discovered (after 3 years?) that my riding pants can Velcro right below my knee, and do double-duty as knickers. My calves tend to get sweaty though the nylon material dries so fast it's not a big deal.

But the best part was getting off work early, catching a earlier bus out of Salem, and doing a moderately longer (14 mile) ride home from Monmouth. In the day light, so I got my scenery fix again. Mixed clouds and sunshine, probably in the 50s F. I live in a pretty state when I can see it.

Not necessarily. That's just as cold as it gets here, I would go colder probably if I had the opportunity.