I got started today on my pledge to keep biking through below-freezing temperatures.

I headed out today with long underwear under my jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, a vest, a cotton scarf for my head under my helmet, and a lined windbreaker. I haven't been able to find a light-colored windbreaker or safety vest in my thrift store searches, so I also packed an oversized white t-shirt to put over my black windbreaker when I ride at night. I'll look like a goof, but at least I'll be visible. The search for a white or yellow windbreaker continues.

The morning was bright, blue and seasonably but not unpleasantly cold -- I was glad I rode.

November's a bad month for shipwrecks -- on this date in 1912 a ship bound for Chicago sank in Lake Michigan, killing all on board. What was the ship, and what was the cargo?

Susan Flynn knew it was the Rouse Simmons, which carried a cargo of Christmas trees. If Susan can send me her address and shirt size, I can send her prize.

This week's question was: This week marks the anniversary of one of the worst Great Lakes shipping disasters. The gales of November came early. What was it?

The answer is the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which took place Nov. 10, 1975, killing all 29 on board. Until 1971, the Fitzgerald had been the largest vessel in the Great Lakes fleet. It had been carrying a load of taconite from Wisconsin. The sinking was memorialized by Gordon Lightfoot in the song 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

Several people got the right answer, but Laura Williams of Woodridge was the first both to answer AND give me a way to reach her so I could give her her prize. So congratulations to Laura, and if she can e-mail her t-shirt size, I can get it out to her.

People with 312 or 773 area codes calling the Regional Transportation Authority's travel hotline must now dial 11 digits. Residents from these area codes should dial 312 then 836-7000 when calling for travel directions, according to the RTA.
Callers outside those area codes but within the RTA's regional service area can continue to dial the 7-digit number, 836-7000.
The change comes after the recent installment of the new Chicago area code 872.
This new rule was supposed to start Saturday. The Ride tried both the 7-digit and the 11-digit number from a 312 number at 11 a.m. Saturday -- and both got through. RTA spokeswoman Diane Palmer said the new protocol may kick in later in the day.

CTA rail service between the Blue Line's Clark/Lake and UIC-Halsted stations will be temporarily suspended from 10 p.m. Friday and 4 a.m. Monday for track work.

Shuttle bus service will substitute for rail service. Allow extra time, folks.

The Illinois Department of Transportation will close Burnham Avenue from 143rd to State Street next Monday for work on the bridge over the Grand Calumet River. The work was originally supposed to start this past Wednesday, but got postponed. The work will take a month.

And no, this isn't the bridge Jake and Elwood jump over. That's at 95th Street.