Biking in Extreme Weather in Toronto

Sunset - NEX-6 & Canon FD 35mm f2 S.S.C. Click for larger.

We have had very extreme weather this winter. After the severe ice storm that put hundreds of thousands of households in the dark, the temperature has been very cold. On Friday, when the picture above was taken, temperature was around -30 degrees Celsius when factored in the wind chill, but it was actually colder than that when biking.  The cold is not the big issue for biking; the biggest challenge is the slippery, icy road. The City is doing a good job at salting the bike paths, but during the snow, it's quite dangerous if the ground is frozen. I fell a few weeks ago on my road bike; the small, thin tires are just not very good at gripping the road. I have now switched to a mountain bike/dirt jumper with much better tires. The main streets are actually safer to bike, as they are the first to be cleared of snow, but then you will have the traffic/cars to worry about.

The other annoying thing is the wetness on the boot/shoe/pants from the splash. Fenders are a must in this kind of weather, but unfortunately my dirt jumper does not have provision for fenders, front or back. I can attach a mud guard to the seat post for the rear, but can't do much about the front. My solution is to wear a pair of rain pants, which covers most of boots.

Yes, I know. It would be much easier to drive, or take public transit, but once you get used to getting to work in 20 minutes on bike, versus more twice the time driving (including parking, and walking to the building), and no traffic to fight, you wouldn't want to get to work any other way!