Commuting by bike?

. . . the 230 am departures did get to be a bit tiresome . . .

<br><br>2:30 AM? That's hardcore, Garth. We've probably passed like . . uhh . . small canoes in the night.

Shoe covers. Now there's a concept. If it's warm & wet I'll wear my tevas (no clips/traps - just plain pedals). Cold and wet usually doesn't bother my feet comfort-wise while pedaling and there was always the big toasty computer monitor on which to dry the old running shoes out during the day. Unfortunately for me now, we've all got flat screens. At least my coworkers don't have to suffer the vapor plume anymore...<br><br>It sure would be nice to have dry shoes to put on for the ride home. I'd be willing to give shoe covers a try, but when wearing the rain pants (full side zips) there's always a stream running down my leg - on the inside - by the time I pedal in. I'm afraid the shoes would still fill up.<br><br>I have been seriously considering keeping a pair of the little plug-in boot dryers for our locker room at work, but I think that soon my rain pants will have played out their useful life and their replacements won't have side zips (unless someone out there is aware of a truly stormproof design) - then I can try shoe covers. <br><br>-Dave R

I have these stretch GoreTex socks made by Rocky (REI had them when I was there recently) which go over thin socks and inside your bike shoes; they work really well. If it's cold I also wear booties over the shoes. I pretty much stopped wearing waterproof leggings as the clamminess was just as uncomfortable as getting wet knees, I just wear tights or leg warmers and make sure the bottoms go OVER the GoreTex socks.

Great thread and I agree with almost everything that's been posted.<br><br>I ride in from N Ravenna to Pioneer SQ - ~16mi rt depending on my route. I ride most days during the summer and less as the days get shorter and wetter. I sometimes toss my bike on the bus if things get crazy - ya gotta love the fact that all the buses have racks.<br><br>When I bike I assume that noone sees me and that cars will always do the wrong thing just because the consequences are so dire. I wear puke green tops, have lots of blinking lights and reflective material.<br><br>I use rechargeable batteries for my lights and have two front lights - a blinking LED that's always on and a 10 watt Night Sun that I always use downtown and when its dark. Having a backup for my Night Sun is important because my commute is long enough that its not uncommon for it to die completely before I get home.<br><br>My rear LED is one I got at ReCycle cycles that is amazingly bright. <br>I can't remember the brandname but it is significantly brighter than any other I've seen.<br><br>I got Ortlieb Backroller panniers this year with my 20% off REI coupon. They are the best. Easy to attach/detach; 100% waterproof, solid on the bike, don't make noise on bumpy roads, roomy but collapse down when empty.<br><br>I used to have fenders for years but always found them a bit of a pain to keep tight. I've switched to a zefal seat post rear fender and a front fender mud guard that attaches to the down tube. They can be easily removed or move to different bikes.<br><br>I use a bike mirror attached to my helmet. I've been using helmet mirrors for around 20 years and can't imagine riding in traffic without them.<br><br>I might have missed if anyone else mentioned ghostcycle.org. You should check it out. They are a repository of bike accidents and mishaps in Seattle and they map them out. Good to see what happened to other cyclists on your commute route.<br>

This is my winter set-up...<br>Fenders, They actually stay on all year.<br>Nite rider HID helmit mounted light.<br>Rear blinker setpost mounted.<br>A little cheezy handlerbar mounted light for backup.<br>Leg warmers when it's kind of cold.<br>Sugoi tights with a water/wind resistant shell on the front and plain old tights in the back.<br>Sugoi jerzy with fleecy stuff on the inside and a hood that fits under my helmit.<br>Lobster style gloves, the kind that are kind of like a cross between gloves and mittens. <br>One of those yellow, cheep REI shells for really rainy/colds days.<br>If it's super cold out I have a pair of Pearl Izumi neoprene booties.<br>When it gets really cold and wet out and I don't want to use the booties, I'll sometimes put a sandwich bag on my toes, over the socks and inside my shoes. This actually works really well.<br><br>Sometimes I actually feel safer riding in the dark/winter because I am lit up like a christmas tree and I think people seem to notice me better. <br><br>Aaron <br> <br>

other than a few months where i was injured i have been riding to work about 6 years. i think when i look for another job i will only consider ones i can ride to. <br><br>my old road bike become unworthy of the time required to fix it so i brought an new, inexpensive crossover bike; a fuji "crosstown". i love this bike. <br><br>also, can't say enough good things about ortlieb rolltop panniers.