So what do you need to know about bicycle commuting in the wind?

Dress for cold. Even if weather.com says it’s in the high 40s, you’ll probably feel cold, and even more so if it’s raining at all. So wear your woollens, hat, scarf, gloves, etc.

Tuck your scarf in. You don’t want that thing blowing around. Put your scarf on first, then your coat. If you like , pull the scarf over your mouth. But do you remember this from the Little House books?

Laura’s veil was a slab of frost against her mouth that made speaking uncomfortable…
–These Happy Golden Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder

If it’s cold enough, and your scarf is over your mouth, you too will have a slab of frost. But if it’s not cold enough, your scarf may just get slimy! Yum!

Wear pants. Well, there are probably people who can and will wear a skirt anyway. I’m not one of them. A straight skirt that won’t fly up at all might work. But pants are warmer.

Wear your leg bands. Even if you have an effective chain guard like I do, the leg bands will keep your pants from blowing around and will keep cold air out.

Tie everything down. Make sure your belongings are secure. If you’re an Xtracycle rider, tighten up your Freeloader bags so that everything inside is secure.

Yell into the wind. I do.

“Howl! blast you! howl!” he shouted. “We’re all here safe! You can’t get at us! You’ve tried all winter but we’ll beat you yet!”
–Pa Ingalls, The Long Winter, Laura Ingalls Wilder

OK, I don’t yell that. But I do sometimes let out an “Aaaaaarrrrrgh!” when the wind is pushing me back. It helps.

Other helpful posts on bicycle commuting:

Low Temperature Cycling

Cycling In the Dark

Photo by Sarah McDevitt http://www.flickr.com/photos/smcdevitt/ / CC BY 2.0

Yes, we’ve gone from sub-freezing temperatures to a soaking rain. Temperatures are getting into the 40′s, so at least we’re not so cold. The problem is that I don’t have rain pants I had some, but they disappeared this past spring (I still haven’t figured out how). They were very close to being worn out anyway; they were just old hiking pants that I bought in, oh, 1993 or 1994, and the seams were beginning to come apart.

I am wearing a rain poncho, which is fine for the top half of me. But it really isn’t enough protection.  Today I suffered through an entire morning with cold, damp legs. I have an idea for making rain chaps and shoe covers out of an old vinyl tablecloth, but I haven’t implemented it yet. If I don’t do it this week, I’ll definitely do it over the winter break, when I’m not working.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/candescence/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

First, on Sunday, I messed up and forgot to not drive.  Then on Monday, I had to take my daughter to an event at the local Masonic lodge. I’d thought about biking, but in the end, it came down to a safety decision. There’s no bike route to get there, unless you go a long way around. We’d have been biking on the shoulder or on the sidewalk in the dark, uphill, on a freeway overpass.  Or on a narrow path under a freeway, if we went the other way around. So we drove.  It was probably just as well. Someone purposely bent the antenna on our car while were inside; who knows what they might have done to a bike.

On Tuesday, I drove to a Girl Scout leader meeting, which was more than two miles away. I then used the “combining trips” strategy and stopped at the grocery store on my way back. Hey, I was out anyway. Combining trips really is a recommended strategy for saving gas and reducing emissions. So I feel pretty good about that workaround.

And the rest of the week was just commuting. Honestly, I don’t seem to run that many errands, so I didn’t need to plan extra bike rides. I do still need to make a grocery trip this week; weather permitting, I’ll stop on my way home tomorrow. By bike.

Today I didn’t ride my beloved Radish.  There’s a steady rain falling in Portland, which actually had me wishing for a car.  That’s not an option for me, so instead I rode my old bike to the bus stop and then rode the bus most of the way.

I’d forgotten how different my old bike is.  I was perched several inches higher, hoping at every stop sign that my rain-slick brakes would actually work.

If weather is one of the things stopping you from bicycle commuting, there’s no shame in doing it this way. You’re still doing something good for yourself and the community.

Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop from Spencer Boomhower on Vimeo.

I even get to make a semi-scary left turn across Glisan, at an unsignaled intersection.  I’ve gotten used to this; I can make the turn just as easily and quickly as I can in a car.  Once in a while, I get surprised by drivers, though.  For instance, on Friday, someone waiting behind me honked at me as I pulled out into the intersection.  Sorry, dude, but I would have waited just as long to make the turn in my car.  And maybe you still would have been unhappy.

Occasionally, someone will also stop in the middle of Glisan to let me through.  I know they’re trying to be kind, and I do appreciate that.  But it’s really not a very safe move for either of us.  Often, when the person in one lane stops, no one in the other lane stops anyway, so it doesn’t make any difference.  Or worse, people behind the stopped person will try to dart around them.  So it’s not really a safe situation for me.

Similarly, it doesn’t really help for drivers to wait for me to go at a stop sign, even if they got there first and have the right of way.  You see, I don’t know if you’re really waiting for me, or if you’re going to suddenly pull out at the same time I do.  Even though I am a proponent of the Idaho stop law, if a car gets to the stop sign first, I expect to stop and wait.  It’s OK, really.

Even people in the wilds of eastern Washington are thinking about these things.  Here’s an excellent article from the Spokesman-Review with thoughts on sharing the road.

But I did do it, and in some ways, I think I’m still paying for it, even though the loans are long since paid off, and our current car was purchased with cash.  I’ve had financial stress throughout my adult life, and I think much of it stems from overextending myself on car loans.

Or, maybe without the car loan I would have found other things to waste my money on.  Who knows?  I wasn’t very smart in general back then.

Now I’m getting close to another transportation purchase:  a bicycle.  Yes, I already have a bike; I am a Bicycle Commuting Mama, after all.  It’s a J.C. Penney three-speed of indeterminate age.  I’ve got it mostly working OK now, except that the rear brakes tend to stick if I use them, and if I put my three year old in the child seat, I’m pretty much sitting in her lap, which she doesn’t appreciate.

So part of our tax refund, helped along by a wee bit of savings, is going toward a new bike.  I’m thinking Xtracycle, which would let me haul both stuff and kids, although I’m not sure how it would be for commuting.  Buying a new bike is something I’ve been looking forward to ever since I started bicycle commuting full time.  I’m convinced that a better bike would make my commute more enjoyable.  I’d also like to be using the car less, and an Xtracycle would let me do more with my bike.

I’ve got to make sure it’s not a purchase I’ll regret, though.  I won’t be borrowing money for it, which is a good thing.  I need to make sure it’s something that I’ll really use, every day, and that it’s something that will really work for my family.  I don’t want to be wishing for a do-over in another 17 years.

“I ought to ride my bike,” said a co-worker, “but it’s just too far.”  I suggested taking MAX part of the way, but she’s also worried about safety on MAX.

“I should ride my bike,” said another co-worker.  “But I don’t know if I even can any more!”

I know all about this.  I’ve been there.  I bought my bike via a Craigslist ad more than two years ago, but I really didn’t start using it until this year.

Why?  Well, the first few times I tried to ride it, I could barely make it around the block, let alone get to work or to a store or to anyplace I needed to get to.  Raising the seat helped, but I still wasn’t confident that I could really go anywhere.

Then, this past summer, for various reasons I decided to commute by bus.  My summer job was located right on a major bus line, so this was easy.  But then they moved me to a different location (temporarily).  This location was not on a major bus line, and the neighborhood bus didn’t run often enough to make it work.  That was when I decided to pull the bike out.  I rode my bike up to the bus line, put my bike in the rack on the bus, rode the bus down toward work, and then pulled my bike out of the rack and rode the rest of the way.

And lo and behold, it worked.  And since I also lost my bus pass around this time, I ended up riding more and more.  I still didn’t feel ready, but I quickly discovered that I actually could ride all the way home, and then that I could ride all the way round trip.  I just had to do it.  I also had to recognize that it’s not necessary to ride fast.  It’s OK to stay in low gear and go just fast enough to stay upright.

Once I knew I could do it, I just had to transfer the bike commuting experience to my regular job.  I did do a little preparation for this:  I borrowed a child seat for taking our three-year old to day care, got lights, etc., but still nothing very fancy.  I ride in street clothes.  For rain, I have a poncho and an old pair of vinyl pants used for hiking.  I’ve added a front basket for carrying things.

It’s often been frustrating, but I’m still doing it.  Before winter break, I had a flat tire and a broken pump (plus we had a snowpocalypse) so I wasn’t riding, but I’m back now, and my bike has actually behaved itself perfectly for two weeks straight.

“Before Bike Commuting” seems like a whole other life now.  Things have really changed, and I think it’s for the better.

The bus ride went fine, but then at the end the bus driver yelled to me in a not-so-pleasant voice because I forgot to put the bike rack back up.  Sorry, lady.  I can’t be the only one who ever forgets.  But I suppose that’s exactly why you were upset.

And then rain poured on me for the last quarter-mile or so that I had to ride to work.  I hadn’t bothered putting on rain gear, of course, so my thighs are now wet.

What with all of that, plus not eating breakfast, I’m feeling rather fragile now.  Don’t worry, I am going to eat.

Today’s commute was easy.  All I can figure is that my body got plenty of rest over the winter break, while at the same time I stayed fairly active by walking, doing housework, and shoveling snow.  I didn’t once feel like I wasn’t going to make it, even with my youngest in the back seat, and on the little hill just before I get to work.

Speaking of carrying kids, Melissa Lion and I were tweeting the other day about being Hard Core Bicycling Mamas.  Melissa, I’m afraid we’re not going to cut it.  These women totally outclass us in the Hard Core department (although I don’t know whether they technically qualify as Mamas).

Now that I’m home, I am finding that my body hurts.  I could use a serious back massage.  I don’t think it’s related to cycling, though.  I think it might have more to do with working at a desk and stuff for the first time in two and a half weeks.  There’s something about hunching over a laptop that just isn’t good for the shoulders.  It’s a LAPtop!  You’re supposed to sit in the recliner with your knees up and tuck it in between your stomach and thighs, right?  Yep, I really need to work from home.