I have too many places where people try to make turns into the bike lane until I get a little farther out of the city. I hav noticed Fridays are the worst for drivers paying any attention what so ever to their surroundings

its going to be a balmy 48 degrees during my commute on Friday Morning.
V

I was thinking of issues such as the effects on the extreme cold on the body--hands and feet, face, and even areas that are covered. Then theres's the possibility of getting a flat. Changing a tube at -40 would be next to impossible.

19 degrees at 7 am and 32 on the way home. I think i will drive tomorrow.

Dangerous if you're not dressed for it.

Wind chill doesn't matter much if your skin is covered and you have wind proof gear on. -25 C is about -13 F and I typically ride in those temps (and colder) multiple times a year. This year has been milder.

I do live in a city though and not out in the country. Even then if you have a functioning cell phone a mechanical problem is probably not life and death, - again, assuming you're dressed for it.

I've had a free wheel quit working on me in cold weather on one occasion. It wasn't even the coldest day I used it on and it happened after I stopped at a convenience store a few blocks before I got to work. It was working fine before that.

Not sure why that freewheel at that time and never any others.

-2°F in the morning, with a high of 6°F. I think I'll pass this time.

Another good reason not to!

OK, so their website is up and running and I signed up. Oddly, I am the first from Potomac, MT to do so.:)

I can't wait for my ride in tomorrow; I skipped today because I was feeling a bit lazy, and missed out on riding home in mid 80's temps. Tomorrow should be the same; time to break out the sunsreen.

I ride all winter, everyday is a bike to work day for me.

It's only dangerous if you not dressed properly...Really it's no different then going XC skiing or snowshoeing.

I am riding fixed gear, it never freezes or seizes up.

Pro tip: save that in a text file on your computer, and then it's easy to C&P it the next time you need it. :thumb:

degree is ° == alt 0176, someone put it in their signature so I don't have to

someone at my wife's work was incredulous that winter bike to work day would be held in February. I agree that mid-April would be better

I feel like a bit of a wimp since the forecast is cloudy with a low of 43°F and a high of 60°F! This pretty mild even by Western Oregon standards. I'm also a little surprised that only 7 people are showing in the Portland area compared with 77 in Seattle.

Not only is it going to be too cold, I seem to have come down with a cold. I'm not even sure I'll make it to work at all tomorrow.

It's not crazy to have a winter bike-to-work day. It's a challenge. We might have gotten lucky and had uncharacteristically warm weather. Maybe we will next year. And those who manage to ride in tomorrow can impress everyone else and show us that it really can be done.

I get what you're saying, but frankly this is uncharted territory for me. Not having ridden for the past two weeks I am not quite as brave.

Never ridden a fixed gear bike before. It'd be interesting to try, but the idea of not having gears doesn't appeal to me much, but not having ridden one I can't say for sure I'd hate it.

I think cold weather cycling is best done when you ease into it, riding in gradually decreasing temperatures. If you've never ridden below 32ºF, don't just jump on the bike when it's 0ºF out, even if you think you're well dressed for it. I'm still learning about how to prepare for winter cycling, and I've been doing it most of my life. I'm always refining my dress. I pay close attention to what part of my body is cold and needs better coverage.

[MENTION=112025]wolfchild[/MENTION] I think cycling presents special challenges, compared with XC skiing and showshoeing. When I cycle, my legs are moving, but the rest of my body is still. I get cold!

[MENTION=381746]mcours2006[/MENTION], you really should try a fixie. It's not for everyone, but it's worth trying. They can keep you warmer than a freewheel bike since your legs are always moving. They can also give improved traction, since you have fine-grained control of your speed. But don't try it tomorrow! ;)

I'm in, I just signed up. I have been lazy lately about riding to work. So this is just what I needed to get back in the groove!

I created a winter bike with a fixed gear for the same reason as wolfchild mentioned -- one cold, dark winter morning the pawls froze on my geared bike and I could pedal like a demon and go nowhere. It's worth trying if you don't have to tackle any extraordinary hills and you can go the fixed gear route pretty cheaply.

I did it, but it wasn't too excited. My goggles kept fogging so I finally took them off and I thought my eye balls were going to freeze. I was five minutes late to work due to the all the stopping time to fix the darn goggles. so this week I just skipped Wednesday, hopefully next week I get a full week of bicycle commuting.

From Michigan! Hats off to you my friend! I was gonna do it here from NE Ohio, but even after suiting up and all I chickened out :)

Big bummer man.

It's 8am here and it's 9°F. That's cold for NYC. Wind chill is well below 0°F.

I'm afraid I wouldn't know what to do with my hands.:)

I have a few hills on my commute that require me to go a few gears shorter than the cruising gear. I could probably tackle them without doing so, but I wouldn't enjoy it, especially after a long day at work.

I put a snowflake on the map. Oh yea! I'm a winter commuter. Though that ain't sayin' much in North Carolina.