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?