By Lauren Spatafore

Lauren is a lifelong rider and guest contributor to ZappaWheels.

Bicycle commuting isn’t just for urban dwellers.  With an open mindset and a bit of pre-planning, anyone can do it! I started bike commuting to work in September almost two years ago. It's a quick, easy ride for me, less than 10 miles round-trip. Now, regardless of what the day will bring, I begin each day with the satisfaction of knowing I've already exercised.  

​It wasn’t always this way. Before 2015, I worked at a school across town, about a 25 minute commute by car. There was not a direct or safe route for me to travel by bicycle.  Often, I would take my bike with me so I could get in a ride after work, while it was still daylight and still before rush hour. However, I wasn’t getting in the miles that I wanted. So, when a position opened up at a school closer to home, I jumped at the opportunity for less travel time and the ability to ride to work.

For 13 years, I've bike commuted through Chicago's winters. While some years are more challenging than others, one thing that remains is the need to keep my hands warm while biking on the coldest days. Over the years, I have devised various measures for addressing this issue, but have never discovered a definitive solution. Rather, I just resigned myself to accept cold rides, cold hands.

So, you can imagine my excitement when my friend Hector recently loaned me a pair of his BlazeWear heated glove liners. At a retail price of $150, these liners are a luxury I've never given myself, although the allure of warm hands has tempted me more than once. I brimmed with excitement over the possibilities. Was this the solution I had been seeking? Was it a sign that the gloves made it into my hands (pun intended) freely? And most importantly, would they work?

Improving the safety of bicycle commuting is a key concern for the team at ZappaWheels. In this posting, we take a look at LED technologies which are increasing the visibility of riders. The article is courtesy of freelance writer Jenny Holt, who is based in the UK. 

Safety while riding a bicycle is one of the concerns preventing more people from cycling. According to the survey of the European Commission, there are only 4% of UK respondents who cycle daily. This is one of the lowest percentages in the EU 28 although bike ownership or access to it in the UK is high with 42% of people or around 25 million owning a bicycle. Other European countries have cycle rates of 43% in the Netherlands, 30% in Denmark and 20% in Finland.

It's time to head home from work and I look out the window to see a rain storm moving into the area. Since I commute by bike, I have three choices: ride home - mostly likely in the rain, take the bus and put the bike on the front of the bus, or leave the bike at the office and take a train. I opt for the first and head out the door hoping to beat the worst of the storm.. 

This is is not the first time I've taken a chance with the rain, nor will it be the last. And through the years, I've tweaked my bike commuting setup to deal with the weather. So the hopeful part of me is thinking, it may not rain too hard so how wet can I get? 

It is estimated that over 1.5 million bicycles are stolen every year (National Bike Registry). Who doesn't know someone whose bike was taken? Sadly, my wife has had two bikes stolen in Chicago. 

So what's an average rider to do? Carry three locks and mount a camera on your bike? I took a hard look at the data behind stolen bikes to understand better what's going on. And more importantly, what good practices you can use to minimize the chances of your bike getting stolen. 

Although it sounds contradictory, the greater the number of people biking the safer the environment. 

This concept of "Safety in Numbers" is not new. It was first observed in 1949 by Rueben Smeed, a British statistician and transport researcher. Using auto traffic data from 20 different countries, he developed Smeed's law which states that an increase in traffic would lead to a decrease in fatalities per vehicle. Since his death in 1976, the data set has been increased and validated in 62 countries. 

The same inverse relationship has also been observed in biking and walking with data from 68 cities in California (Jacobsen). The researcher concluded a motorist is less likely to collide with a person walking and bicycling if more people walk or bicycle. How is this possible and how do different cities compare? 

It was 0 degrees during the ride this past Monday morning and again today. Add in the wind chill and it felt like -15 below zero. Perhaps I spoke too soon last week when I said You Don't Have to be Fearless to Bike Commute. 

People are always amazed when they learn I ride in this type of weather. Usually they say "you are brave" and act as if it's some great feat. (Or maybe some other, unspoken adjectives come to their mind.) For me, it's how I get to work. And while it is challenging, there are actually some unexpected pleasures to bike commuting in the winter.

Over half of Americans (ages 18 and over) would like to bicycle more often and perceive bicycling as a convenient mode of transportation. While safety is still a primary concern, more Americans are biking to work with over 800,000 bike commuters in 2013 alone. (US Census Bureau). That number has grown steadily over the past 10 years as cities improve biking infrastructure and road-safety policies. In Chicago the number of bike commuters increased 175% from 2000-2013 (American Community Survey) with even greater growth in many US Cities. 

As we start a new year, now is the time to consider how you can join the growing numbers of people who bike to work or use the bicycle as a form of transportation. Here are five easy steps to help you start bike commuting. 

In 1973, the rock group The Eagles recorded the hit song, Desperado. One of the memorable lines from the song is, "Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?" While they weren't talking about biking in colder weather, it certainly applies.  

In the last article, we looked at keeping your head and body warm while riding in colder weather. Today, we will take a look at keeping your hands and feet nice and toasty for bike commuting in the fall, specifically when the temperature is 35-55 degrees Farenheit.