Adverse Riding Weather

This morning I went for a ride after the rain had already started. The first spin of the pedals is not a simple thing in nasty weather. If you only want to ride on days of guaranteed beautiful weather, you'll have a riding season somewhere between 14-20 days in Chicago.

Here are some tips for riding in nasty weather:

Heat:
-Bring an extra bottle
-Bring along sunblock and reapply often

Rain:
-Cycling specific clothing (though expensive) helps you feel drier
-Wear eye protection
-Beware of painted or metal road surfaces because they are very slick when wet
-Try foot retention (clips and straps or clipless) to help prevent your feet from sliding around on the pedals
-Remember every puddle can be a pothole
-Some people like fenders. My thinking is: you are going to get soaked anyways
-Leaves are slippery too

Snow: Last winter I got a few miles in, but ultimately I was unable to keep my face or hands warm for more than about 4 miles no matter what I tried. I'm going to invest in a thin hood for under my helmet next season, but I'm not sure what to do about gloves because I had used thick skiing gloves last winter.
-Think about keeping around a "winter beater" (perhaps a cheap MTB). All of the moisture and road salt will either damage your nice road bike, or necessitate constant cleaning.
-Wear a plastic shell layer
-Consider leaving your foot retention off (because of the constant risk of going down on)
-Wear bright colors, use lights
-Ride slowly and cautiously.
-There are some great resources on http://bikewinter.org/

I want to hear some other input---especially on the glove issue.

Ride safely,
Anthony P.