The snowfall this 1st of October weekend, while barely enough to whiten the rooftops, is an unmistakable sign that... fair-weather cyclists are packing away their gear until next year. For the rest of us, we can look forward to six months of streets and pathways uncluttered by the hordes that only ride when the weather's right for T-shirt and shorts. Bring on the winter cycling!

Because there are so few of riding in the dark months ahead (but, more and more each year), it helps for us to huddle together, if not for warmth, then at least for (virtual) companionship. This is your place to publicly state your commitment to continue riding over the winter. Tell us how many days you plan to ride in each of the next six months, and/or where you'll draw the line on when you'll ride (e.g. "I will ride every day above -20C", "I will ride at least 5 days per month", or even "I will ride every stinkin' day no matter the weather or temperature"). Then, at the end of each month, post a comment and describe how you did versus your commitment. No penalty for failure, lots of points for trying.

Let's be creative here, and realistic. Winter cycling can be tough, especially if you live in one of those far-off suburbs where snowplows are rarer than pink elephants. Feel free to taking steps like committing to taking the car to the nearest park 'n' ride lot and riding in from a shorter distance along a snow-cleared pathway. For instance, you might live in Rocky Ridge, but commit to riding in from Edworthy. Or you live in Somerset, but you commit to ride in from Glenmore Reservoir.

To kick it off: I hereby commit to riding to work every single workday in October, November, December, January, February, March (when I am not out of town), no matter the temperature or snow depth. Disclaimer: I live in Bridgeland and work downtown, so my commitment is not as hard to keep as it would be for someone in, say, Shawnessy!

One of our BikeCalgary readers, Steve Elliott, is a keen winter cyclist and has started a Twitter twibe called 'wintercycling'. You can post some of your status updates on Twitter and include the hashtags #wintercycling and #calgarybikecommute in your posts. Visit the Twibe's page for more info.

Okay, who's joining the list?

(image courtesy A Balanced View)