I’ve been making the best of January and now February. It’s been pretty miserable weather months, but I’ve been able to average 2-3 days per week bicycle commuting. The other days I ride my bicycle to the bus stop, which is about a mile, and take the bus the rest of the way to my office. It’s actually a nice change as I can wear my work clothes. We’ve had a wet few weeks in Charlotte, so I wear rain gear over my work clothes. Bicycling in the winter months is an interesting way to connect with the outside world at a time when many people don’t bother to do much outside. I’ve had a few nice surpirses in the last few weeks. Charlotte often delivers a January surprise this time of year. Morning temps in the 20-30s are not uncommon and there are some days which don’t get out of the 30’s. Luckily the norm is for 40-50 degree high temps this time of year, and sometimes even higher. I recently had a few late night (8-9PM) bicycle commutes in the 40’s well lit by clear moonlit nights. Getting to spend that time outdoors is rejuvenating, and I feel connected to where I live because of my daily close up view of the trees, streams, and winter nature in this part of the US.
About 2 years ago I decided to start wearing normal athletic gear for my bicycle commute of about 7.5 miles. The main reason for this was affordability and comfort. I wanted to be able to walk in to a coffee shop in the morning without turning to many heads. Additionally it’s much more affordable to wear general athletic gear I’ve purchased at TJ Maxx and Marshalls. In the winter this is even more affordable. Winter cycling specific gear is very expensive. Mostly I wear nylon and wind proof gear with base wicking layers, and fleece in between.
For the record, I have not driven in my car by myself for 38 days. I have driven with my family, or on 2 occasions with cargo, but I’m learning how to deal with those situations.
I’ve been commuting by bicycle for about 10 years. I started bicycling to school and work on a normal road bike in cycling clothes. In the winter I simply didn’t cycle commute because I didn’t have all the proper gear for temperatures below 50 and because I really only had one pair of long cycling lycra and long sleeve jersey and jacket. Gradually over a few years, I moved towards more practical transportation oriented equipment and clothes. Inspired originally by the SS/fixie urban cycling movement I built up a Surly Cross-check as a single speed with panniers. I knew very little about city bicycle and transportation bicycles because there just wasn’t a lot of information available from my local bike shop and online. In the back of my mind I knew there was more to transportation cycling, but as an athlete, and influenced by the marketing machine, I felt it wouldn’t be “cool” to give up my road bike and bike clothes.
Last spring I took the step of moving entirely away from road cycling culture for my transportation cycling. Most of my clothes I wear are athletic gear made by Nike, Addidas, etc. The summer stuff is synthetic (non-cotton) materials, with loosekhaki shorts. My winter clothes starts with a wicking base layer like those made by Giordana and Craft (these are anywhere from 19.99-50 each). On top of that I wear a synthetic tight fitting polartec layer made by Marmot and others. I picked up 3 of these this early winter at Marshals for 19.99 each. I wear a light fleece vest, and over that a wind/water resistant layer which is either pearl izumi or North Face. On the bottom I wear running pants with a light liner. They have been warm enough down to the 20’s.