What puts me off riding..

[hebe]

I just finished recording 30 days of journeys for my blog - driven, cycled, walked, bus whatever. Sadly it coincided with the wettest April ever in the UK so there was more driving than I was happy with. I learned a few things about what stops me riding...

• Rain (and flooding). I'm buying a nice jacket so that my thought process in light rain no longer goes "rain = cheap jacket that clashes with everything and doesn't fit = car for 2 mile round trip". DD is in the trailer so rain doesn't really bother her, and I can easily get changed when I get home.
• Wind. I can't get away from the fact that pulling 60lbs of child plus trailer is blinking hard work with any wind other than a tail wind.
• Our shared drive, which means that some mornings I have to carry the child trailer at shoulder height to clear all the cars. I can never forget how much it would cost in bodywork repairs if I dropped it and it's really bulky so difficult to lift. I'm looking into a tagalong instead, which will fit between cars much more easily.
• The weather forecast. Even if it's only slightly grey outside, a forecast of rain and wind makes me think twice about a two mile trip. Which is just silly. So I use a more accurate forecast now and try to go by the weather that I can see for the short rides.
• Road surface. There's a junction near nursery in such bad condition that in order to turn right I have to set off from the left hand side of the lane, at an angle. Or I can walk the bike. I've reported the junction to the local council, and just need to suck it up really, otherwise I end up driving the 2 miles and doing a 10 mile ride when I get back... Luckily this will stop being a problem when she starts school next September and I have a (rather smoother) off-road/low-traffic route to follow.

What makes you not want to ride? What makes you dislike a particular route?

[jezbael]

Many of the same things that you mentioned: wind, rain, weather. Living in Canada, I'll also add cold. I won't ride in the winter, because I don't think it's safe. But even in the spring, after the snow is gone, I avoid riding until it's warmer. Also, thinking about it as exercise rather than something fun to do.

[Crankin]

Stop signs or lights that end in an uphill.
Seriously, after ten years, I still cannot maneuver this. Even a teeny, tiny uphill, I cannot just push off and go. You can give me an 18% grade to climb instead and I would be happier.
I know what to do. I just can't do it. There have been quite a few embarrassing moments because of this, which entail scooting across intersections with the unclipped foot, getting caught on the saddle with my shorts, and the best one, actually getting going, but my foot that is unclipped gets in a weird position, the pedal is in the up position and I almost crash while I am riding with one leg.
All of my rides are planned around these types of intersections.

[shootingstar]

Stop signs or lights that end in an uphill.
Seriously, after ten years, I still cannot maneuver this. Even a teeny, tiny uphill, I cannot just push off and go.

Yes, frickin' annoying and embarrassing. There have been times, I just get off the bike and walk across a traffic intersection because of an uphill. Maybe I overthink all this.

But better than falling off to the side.

Or having to stop to maneouvre the fenced gap at a railway stop: of course, it's to slow down cyclists but I can't even cleverly cycle through it when obviously there is no train coming.

And this is in the middle of a big urban park! No obstructions of buildings that prevent a line of vision to see any or no train coming.

[skhill]

It's rain that gets me off the bike and into the car. Just wish my glasses had windshield wipers; I don't mind getting a bit wet but I hate it when I can't see through the rain streaked glasses and of course can't see without them. Drivers seem less attentive, too.

And I don't bike to the grocery store if I'm going to be hauling a heavy load into a headwind up that hill on the way home.

[Catrin]

rain, wind, temps below 37 degrees as the sole remaining asthma trigger I seem to have left is cold air...

This year I am trying to up my "wind tolerance", we will see. Frankly I would prefer to be on the trails in the woods when it gets too windy.

[Desert Tortoise]

Sun-I know that sounds crazy, especially to northerners, but out here in southern Arizona it sucks the life out of me. The sun is very intense here and the longer I live here, the harder it gets. I have to be out by 7am or I just start dreading the whole thing. The exception is winter when mornings are in the 30s or 40s.

[westtexas]

Sun-I know that sounds crazy, especially to northerners, but out here in southern Arizona it sucks the life out of me. The sun is very intense here and the longer I live here, the harder it gets. I have to be out by 7am or I just start dreading the whole thing. The exception is winter when mornings are in the 30s or 40s.

Same with west Texas. I can be out for 30 minutes and get burned in the sun here. We're at a higher elevation than southern AZ too, which doesn't help with the sun thing. I cannot get sunglasses with lenses dark enough to not have to squint the entire time.

Wind is my major reason for not riding. There is nothing I hate more than a time-sucking, energy-killing headwind. It's so relentless. It blows you all over like you're some kind of drunk on a bike. And then it shifts directions when you're ready to turn for home. Around here the wind is usually never less than 10 mph - almost always above 15 - and never in the direction I want it to be. There is a flag outside my apartment window that I use as a wind speed meter (the weather.com reports are always 5-10 under the actual speed) and if that thing is straight out flying, I stay home.

[murielalex]

Sun-I know that sounds crazy, especially to northerners, but out here in southern Arizona it sucks the life out of me. The sun is very intense here and the longer I live here, the harder it gets. I have to be out by 7am or I just start dreading the whole thing.

Same with South Florida. It's starting to get hotter here now, and I'm already noticing the difference. I can handle the sun, but not when the humidity kicks in as well. Fortunately, the mornings tend to stay nice.