Lauren Conroy
Daily Commute: 18 Miles Round Trip
Commuted Through Chicago Winters: 2 Times
Strategy: Layer! Layer! Layer!

I’m from Virginia where the winter temperature hardly ever drops below 30. When I first moved to Chicago, I didn’t know how to deal with the subzero temperatures and found myself giving up on biking in the middle of the winter. Since then, I’ve learned better layering techniques and acquired some really great gear. I’ve noticed other people don’t need as many layers as I do to be comfortable. I have a tendency to have very cold toes and fingers compared to the average person so I go to great lengths to keep them warm.

Here’s what I generally wear. I leave for my 9-mile commute around 7:45. The windchill is often between -15 and -30.

Disclaimer: If you bought all of these items at full price in one shot it would be pretty darn expensive. I’m always keeping my eye out for sales on winter gear and that’s how I ended up with most of this stuff.

For the bottom half, I start with a pair of regular fashion tights. When I get to work I can remove the other layers, throw a skirt over the tights and I’m good to go. It is probably not the best layering technique but I’m going for speed once I get to work.

Over the tights, I wear two pairs of SmartWool socks, which cost $25.95 each.

The socks are topped with two pairs of Gore-Tex waterproof socks, which cost $59.95 each.

I wear Gore-Tex leg warmers over the tights. These cost $59.99. Normally I wouldn’t suggest wearing the leg warmers OVER the tights because they will slip down, but my third layer manages to keep them up. These legwarmers are such a good item for your layering arsenal. They roll up super small to carry in your bag and have nice zippers at the bottom so if you need to stop mid ride and add a layer you can put them on over your shoes.

For my final layer I added on Endura Thermolite Tights, which are $123.49. They are super thick and warm and somewhat water resistant. I’ve biked in downpours and the water beads off of them for a while before it starts to soak in. The Gore-Tex leg warmers will keep you dry and warm even if the top layer gets a bit damp.

For the top half of my body, I start with my Under Armour ColdGear Long Sleeve Mock, which is $49.99. This is another one of those magical layers that I think everyone should own. It came in super handy to wear with my kit during cyclocross and it makes a great base layer for super cold commutes.

I pulled my $39 capo arm warmers on over that.

Over that I wore my $99 Under Armor Hoodie.

Finally, I topped everything with my Patagonia Triolet Jacket, which retails for $429. I could never say enough good things about this jacket. First of all I found it on sale in the off-season for 50% off the list price and it comes with a lifetime warranty. I’ve ridden in many downpours and this layer doesn’t fail. Pit zips make for an easy mid-ride adjustment if its warm or you’re wearing too many layers. I wear it over a light top during rainy days up to 50 degrees and as my top layer in days as cold as…well, as cold as it gets.

Next I’ll put on a neck gaiter with a balaclava over top. It is nice to have multiple layers over your face. The outermost layer tends to get very icy and its nice to have a second one to pull up when that happens.

I wear the Countdown Gore-Tex Gloves, which cost $57.50. I have a love hate relationship with these gloves. I love that they keep my fingers from falling off but I hate trying to shift with them. I feel like an astronaut doing agility testing. My fingers get super cold, though. A teammate suggested I wear a pair of latex gloves under my regular gloves, which I did this morning. My fingers still got a little bit cold, but I think they would have been cold no matter what I did.

For shoes, I use the $349.99 Sidi Diablo GTX. I wear size 39 in these shoes. I have very small feet (womens 6), but as I mentioned earlier, I’m wearing 4 pairs of socks at this point. I can’t comfortably wear these shoes with less than 2 pairs of socks but they manage to keep my toes dry and happy even in super cold commutes. Even when I don’t use a front fender. 

And that’s it! Yeah, it is actually quite a lot of clothing, but after that I was comfortable during my commute.

Next Cold Weather Commuter: Christine Tejada Leppanen>>