They’re just cookies. DePaul junior Juwan Lockett would remind himself of this simple fact dozens of times; when he was caught in an intense blizzard on Belmont Avenue, after sliding off an icy road for the 10th time in one night, when he stepped into a Lakeview apartment building unable to feel his feet, to name a few examples. An acting major at DePaul, Lockett moonlights as a delivery driver for Insomnia Cookies on Lincoln Avenue, and spent much of Chicago’s coldest winter in history riding his bike.

“It creeps up on you as you’re biking,” Lockett said. “You feel a little chilly in your toes, but then it grows and grows and you stop feeling them.”

According to the National Weather Service, Chicago’s average temperature from December to March was a mere 22 degrees. This marked the coldest average since 1872, when the city first started taking records of the temperature.

Despite the bitter cold, hundreds of bike messengers, delivery drivers and commuters in the city continued to ride all throughout the winter, well aware of the risks that come with the piles of snow and extreme cold.

“You have to be a soldier, especially in Chicago,” Lockett said.

Wearing a facemask, thermal hoodie, Under Armour leggings, jeans, gloves and helmet, the 21-year-old still managed to feel the negative wind chills as he made his way through Insomnia’s two-mile delivery radius. With several boxes of freshly baked cookies tucked snug in his carrier bag, Lockett took his time cycling through the ice. The deliveries were important, but his safety came first. After all, they’re just cookies.

“The sweet side about harsh weather is that people tip better, because they see that this person has come out in 10-degree weather to bring them warm cookies and ice cream,” Lockett said.

A former full time bike messenger for Chicago’s “On-Time Courier,” recent Columbia College graduate Kevin Gebhardt is just glad the season is over. The 22-year-old first came into professional biking when running cookies alongside Lockett at Insomnia.

Equipped with a Nextel phone, Gebhardt received pages for pickups and drop-offs throughout the city and would bike as many as 50 miles on some days. Leaving the job shortly before the onset of Chicago’s winter, the diehard cyclist wasn’t forced out in the cold this season, but has the utmost respect for those who were.

“It’s a simple living, it’s beautiful,” Gebhardt said. “It’s pretty amazing what some of these guys do.”

DePaul senior Matt Lemoine can relate. Living in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, he biked to class at the Lincoln Park campus daily this winter, and will continue to do so as the snow becomes a distant memory and temperatures steadily reach the 50s and 60s.

“Public transportation would take me upwards of an hour, where as it takes me around 15-minutes to [bike] to class,” Lemoine said.

The senior also works as a mechanic at the Johnny Sprockets bike shop in Lakeview and knows firsthand the kind of toll this winter has taken on bikers in the city. Lemoine stresses that having the proper gear is vital to biking safely in the cold months.

According to Lemoine, business is slow for bike shops during the winter months and Johnny Sprockets is no exception. Many stores will offer Groupons and other special offers to attract customers during what is referred to as “build out season.” This is when shops make minor improvements and adjustments to both their sales floor and workshop so things run smoothly during a busy summer.

Taking his time and riding carefully this winter, Lemoine was able to successfully avoid any major issues related to the weather, but is still more than thankful that spring is finally here.

“You have to establish limits, and really know what your limits are, otherwise you get burned out,” Lemoine said.

After all, they are just cookies.