"I think I rode once at 15 below," he said. "And I figured that's about my limit."

Besides a few scary moments skidding out of control on ice or snow, Haas has had no real trouble getting across town and back in those years.

"I've been down a couple of times," he said. "But you probably get banged up more playing ice hockey."

Haas always uses both a bike light and a helmet light - especially because he leaves home around 6:30 a.m., so most of the year he's in the dark.

Biking, especially after the work day, is "almost a Zen experience" that allows Haas to steer this thoughts toward his students, lesson plans and other things instead of having to concentrate on driving - which he considers more work.

"If you bike to work, you're done with your job when you get on the bike," he said. "But if you drive to work, you're not done until you get home."

In June, Haas will take his last ride to Cold Springs - at least as a teacher.

An avid cyclist outside of his commute, though, he'll continue to ride every day.

"I'm going to have to get up and make sure I get some sort of ride in," he said.