Fair Weather Cyclist?

Sigh. It's that time of year again, when my lovely shiny steed morphs into a lowly winter hack. The raceblade mudguards are on and my bike's lit up like a Christmas tree.

I've just recently come out of hibernation and am really ramping up the miles - but now the cold wet weather has hit and I'm back on the trainer when it's damp outside. :(
What a wimp!

I was just wondering how hardy you TE girls are? I actually don't mind getting wet and grubby, have lots of technical, waterproof gear, but recoil in horror when my drive train gets clagged with thick black sludge and liquid cow poo! :o
I'm quite fastidious about cleaning and lubing and there's nothing more disheartening than having a whole morning's work wiped away with a quick spin on wet, mucky roads.
Do you ride when it's wet and mizzly and just resign yourself to a once a week fettle with a bucket and brush - or do you hit the trainer on grey wintry days?

Roll on next year, when I upgrade to a summer best bike and my current pride and joy gets relegated to official winter hack. :)

If it even looks like it might rain, I don't get out on my bike. Once the temps drop to about 40 degrees, I'm done. :(

I just bought a cyclocross bike this year and thought that might push me to ride in yucky weather, but it hasn't worked yet. Thankfully, the weather has been fairly nice for our cross races!

Cold, yes. Rain, no way. Actually, my rule is to never start a ride in the rain or on wet roads. Obviously, if I'm caught out in the rain, I'll ride home. And, I don't do a ride that's not going to get above 38 degrees.

Oooh, I'm starting to feel less wimpy now! :)
Thank you!

I commute year round. My commuter bike is a mess :(

I won't take my road bike out in the rain though.

I live in Seattle. I will ride in dark & cold, but not dark & wet.
During the day; if it's already raining, i probably won't ride (but i might) I have lots of wet weather gear so if it's a long ride and MIGHT rain, I'm prepared.
We have to ride in the cold & rain, because that can happen for 5 months !

It is snowing here, snowed several inches overnight. I rode in to work and had a surprisingly good ride; The paths and roads were mucky but not bad, everything else was absolutely beautiful and white. The air was crisp and I was nice and warm in my layers upon layers of winter gear. And then I came to the big, steep hill right below my office and realized that my front derailleur cable was enclosed in an icicle. No small chainring for me. :( But other than that it was a lovely ride.

Anne

I used to balk at commuting in dark, rain, and cold. But this year I'm turning over a new leaf. I don't know why, but my "project" has become to ride through the winter. So, it's an ongoing learning process, with many "firsts" lately. First I started riding home in the dark this summer. That was fine. Then I tried riding in the rain. With the right clothes that was fine. And lately it's been cold, so I've been figuring that out, with good results.

Yesterday was a banner day, though. It snowed a little here yesterday morning, and I thought, here goes nothing. I put on some waterproof clothes and hit the road. The slush in the shoulders kind of sucked, but when I could I rode in the roadway. Then I hit the "mountain biking" part of my commute. I do use slick tires, and with some skills usually I'm fine on the dirt. But the inch of snow on top of the thick oak leaves proved too much for my front tire. I fought the slippage as best I could, but twice the front wheel got away from me and I went body surfing on the ground. Oops! Live and learn. I'm putting some semi-knobbies on ASAP.

My ride home (after dark) was very "adventurous", too. It had gotten hopelessly foggy. So there I was, in the fog, in the dark. At least the snow was gone. My bike and body were lit up very well, and I'm sure that's the ONLY way any motorists saw me.

As for cleaning my bike, that's the downside. I do like to keep my steed clean, and therefore I have been slaving over it lately, cleaning it more often as the weather deteriorates.

I'm also feeling the need to be a year around commuter. No snow, yet, but plenty cold. My last week of morning rides have been in the low 20's. The roads are starting to ice up some for my evening ride so I finally ordered some studded tires. :eek: Hope they work!

Riding in the colds not so bad as long as your dressed for it and you don't stop too long to blow your nose and wipe the eyes. :rolleyes: I've even gotten my husband, a very fair weather rider, to do a couple of cold rides with me. I let him wear most of my real cold weather clothes and he's been a happy little camper. I've been really, really enjoying my cold evening ride. Even the rainy ones, but I'm afraid that will be turning to snow very soon. :( Again, hope the studded tires work!

And when faced with three months on the trainer, riding in the snow and cold seems like a wonderful option! :D bikerHen

Here in the Pacific NW, my spouse and I both ride regularly in the rain, and clean the bikes periodically. I'd rather ride outside if I can. The bike can take it.

When it comes to road cycling, I only like to ride when it's sunny and at least 60 degrees.

However, mountain biking, bring on the weather! Wind! Snow! Hail! Rain! Monsoons! I love it all. The same goes with running.

Winter here means ice and snow. Commuting isn't practical for us so I rarely ride in the winter. Once it snows and the road has had gravel thrown on it, I switch to the mountain bike, but even then, I don't ride much in winter. I just bought a trainer and expect to get my km's in that way. IF I lived where I could commute, I might consider riding in the elements but I'd need a commuter bike, lights, fenders, a rack of some sort, and lotsa new clothes...

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Originally Posted by SnappyPix

Do you ride when it's wet and mizzly and just resign yourself to a once a week fettle with a bucket and brush - or do you hit the trainer on grey wintry days?

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I ride for enjoyment. If weather is not "enjoyable", I don't ride and I pull out the rollers (or...sigh...I sit on the couch).
For commuting, Metro (the subway) is heated, so if it's really snotty out, I take that to work. I don't mind cold and dry - I rode one morning when it was 18 degrees out. I don't like dealing with ice or snow (or sand) and I don't like cold and wet. However, I don't mind warm and wet. I have lots of foul weather gear, but rarely use it. :rolleyes:
For fitness rides (non commuting rides), I'm totally fair weather. If it's cold, I'll pass up the morning group ride and ride solo when it warms up (helps to not have kids who need to go to soccer games and such for that). I slow down and whine a whole lot more in the winter!

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Originally Posted by Pedal Wench

Cold, yes. Rain, no way. Actually, my rule is to never start a ride in the rain or on wet roads. Obviously, if I'm caught out in the rain, I'll ride home. And, I don't do a ride that's not going to get above 38 degrees.

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Pretty much identical for me, except you're more cold tolerant. I might start in 38 degrees, but if that was going to be the max, I'd stay in bed. Once when I was in college, I hit black ice and wrapped my front wheel around the forks. That was enough for me.

Dark? No problem. Cold? Not much of a problem. Light Rain? Don't like it, but will do it. Heavy Pelting Rain? Starting to feel wimpy.

30+ mph winds, especially combined with heavy rain? Yeah, that's a problem. I don't even like to get out of bed on mornings when I can hear a storm beating on the windows, let alone commute by bike. :o

I'm a bit like limewave when it comes to riding in crap weather.

Mtb: bring it on!!! :D

Commute: well, it's still better than driving to work, innit? :p

Roadie: *whine* :rolleyes:

Not interested in cycling when there's snow on the road. In Ontario I never cycled in winter. In Vancouver, our climate is mild enough that I do it winter, but less than warmer seasons. I will cycle approx. -5 C degrees or so. (Can't remember the Fareheit converter here, but that is below freezing.)

Don't mind light drizzle,..but unrelentess pouring rain, is just a drag.

Ok....we don't have a car.
So reality is, that ...grocery shopping is necessary and so if there's no other choice, will cycle in rain. Commuting, if at beginning, I have a choice will not cycle in steady reain, but will do it on return...after all, I have get home!

Will cycle in rain on bike trips of course. Often there's no other choice. Bike touring with loaded panniers on vacation, yes, happened often enough. For whatever reason, the trips I've cycled in Quebec I have memories of many hrs. of rain. I could never forget cycling 6 hrs. in continous rain in Quebec in the summer.

One thing for certain, as soon as it thunders...I get the hell of out the rain as fast as possible!!!! Lightning is terrifying on bike.

I won't ride if it's raining a lot. A drizzle doesn't bother me much.
I won't ride on snow or ice.
I have no problem riding in the cold down to about 25 degrees F....refreshing! :p
As long as the roads are clear I'll ride all winter.

Deep respect to everyone who continues to battle on, despite the weather.
I used to commute in all weathers, but now work from home, so my hardy streak has fizzled out completely!

After one particularly nasty winter, spending more time on my backside than in the saddle, I gave up ice skating on 2 wheels and decided that snow and ice were no-go weather.

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Originally Posted by Voodoo Sally

But the inch of snow on top of the thick oak leaves proved too much for my front tire. I fought the slippage as best I could, but twice the front wheel got away from me and I went body surfing on the ground. Oops! Live and learn. I'm putting some semi-knobbies on ASAP.

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Not sure if it's true, but I always understood slicks to be better on snow and ice as there's more tyre contact with the ground than knobblies or treads.
I guess it depends how fresh or compacted the snow is.

I will pretty much ride in anything and have done so. Rain, sleet, snow...been there and done that. Last year I commuted from the 'burbs to downtown and had quite the variety of weather! I found that as long as I was dressed properly, I could handle the cold and wet; if I had fenders and studs, I could handle the cruddy roads and it worked out pretty well.

I am with Lisa and that as long as the roads are clear enough, I'll be out for some mileage.

Definitely not rain. I always get a nasty stuck in my tire. And I'm terrified of losing my brakes on the road.

Define cold. I live in Tucson. Anything under 50 degrees is frigid! I'll ride in it though because I'd rather freeze my butt than slog through a spinning class.

I'm dusting off the MTB - and like most of you - bring on the wet stuff! Nothing makes me feel younger than coming home covered in mud. Of course, we get ten inches of rain a year, so it's not an everyday thing.

Snow or rain a big NO! I won't ride in the dark either just to risky. Cold is a maybe. I'm trying to push myself to ride when it is 45 F or above - a new low temp threshold for me this season. I hate to be cold and my hands and feet just do not handle it well (had mild frostbite in college). I've tried the hand warmers/toe warmers. They keep my hands warm but do nothing for my feet. I'm going to try and ride tomorrow - high is forecast to be 48 F - all I can do is try. If I don't ride outside I'll give the fluid trainer a good work out for an hour or so. Either way I'll ride.