Riding in all weather conditions

bompington

I have a firm policy of never not riding because of the weather. The only exceptions are strong winds (gusts of force 10 or over forecast) or deep snow - but since the vast majority of my mileage is commuting, there's never been an occasion yet when it's been too deep and the school's actually open.
Which, if I remember rightly, makes it one ride cancelled in the last couple of years.

I don't have this policy because I'm a hard man (this is Scotland, I should remind you). I have this policy because I know that if I started to bail, I don't know where I'd stop. This way I don't have to use any will power because I'm simply not making a decision.

Matthewfalle

hsiaolc wrote:

fat daddy wrote:

redvee wrote:

work colleagues would ask what happens when it rains.

I get this all the time ..... people have become pansies IMO .... its rain FFS, its drops of water that fall out the sky and land on you, what do you think happens when it rains .... what do you think will happen to you if it lands on you.

we live in the UK, and people are scared of getting wet ?

Sometimes I get annoyed at Wifey and relatives when its raining and they don't want to go outside and are vocal about it infront of my kiddy ... I really don't want her growing up to me one of these people made of sugar that will dissolve if they get wet ..... its raining, its fun to go out and ride the scooter though puddles and jump in them and float stuff down the gutters in to the drains

people really do get old when they stop being kids ! .. its a shame, Children enjoy themselves, grown ups just moan "what if it rains"

I think the word the kids use these days is "Snow Flakes".

You can always send kids to Sandhurst to get some military training.

I am snow flakes but I am thinking of sending my son to be hard core.

No you can't. You can send them to a myriad of other places but not The Academy.

voodooman

fat daddy wrote:

my 5 year old knows that

(1) Daddy is Badass
(2) Mummy is weaksauce

and when she grows up she wants to be a badass mummy so she can play with her children all the time.

Although I do envy weaksauce mummy .. normally after the 15 iteration of playing "The Terminator" .. where I am obviously the T100 she is Kyle Reese and Mummy is Sarah Conner and she has to kill me before I can kill her mum ... Its basically Hide and seek combined with pillow fight combined with wressling and nerf shooting

Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Best film of last year. "You're weak like Sarah Connor... Before she could do chin ups."

bendertherobot

It's a weird one. My hardcore bike riding means that I am a bad ass dude. My outlook on the world makes me a snowflake.

redvee

redvee wrote:

work colleagues would ask what happens when it rains.

They were also shocked at the distance I ride to/from work, a shocking 10 miles each way.

DavidJB

Suffer from Raynaud's so anything below 2/3c is a no go for anything over an hour for me. I've done my years and years of "being 'ard" I'll still go out in bad weather but I'm much more likely to reach for the turbo now.

Went out yesterday in the high wind and heavy rain and spent the entire 90 minutes in misery. What's the point?

itboffin

Missed my chance to grab a bag of KOMs in yesterday's strong winds which is probably a good thing as 70 mph winds is definitely not for the faint hearted

markhewitt1978

itboffin wrote:

Oh yes, riding into work the savings would be huge over my current commute but only if I completely get rid of my car, there would be no opportunity to just drive in some days.

i got rid of mine about 5 years ago and until the last year I've ridden in all conditions, now i'm being more careful by avoiding ice, fog and torrential rain or wind, in the 10 years since I moved away from London the weather down here has been getting more extreme and of course i've aged[/quote]

My idea would be to have one car as a family rather than two, at the weekend we only ever use one car, so the only reason we need two is my 35 mile commute to work. I could use the car say Monday and Friday to bring down clothes for the week + take them home then Tues/Wed/Thurs get the train but that puts me 12 miles away from work which mostly has bike path and a bit of road - but bike path would be an issue at this time of year, with ice etc.

With the train fare costing the same as diesel for the trip the only saving to be made is by getting rid of the car.

benws1

On the flip side of this, riding in rubbish weather makes you appreciate good weather even more. Did 27 miles on the hybrid on Saturday morning in bright, only slightly breezy and cold conditions. Felt wonderful.

Did some of the route I did on Tuesday night in the dark with the wind and rain in my face. The world looks completely different in daylight.

I'm hoping to gradually build my mileage now as I invested in a proper road bike on Saturday. The hybrid will be used for crappy conditions and night riding until the clocks go back. It should then be full-on road bike.

Alex99

markhewitt1978 wrote:

itboffin wrote:

Oh yes, riding into work the savings would be huge over my current commute but only if I completely get rid of my car, there would be no opportunity to just drive in some days.

i got rid of mine about 5 years ago and until the last year I've ridden in all conditions, now i'm being more careful by avoiding ice, fog and torrential rain or wind, in the 10 years since I moved away from London the weather down here has been getting more extreme and of course i've aged

My idea would be to have one car as a family rather than two, at the weekend we only ever use one car, so the only reason we need two is my 35 mile commute to work. I could use the car say Monday and Friday to bring down clothes for the week + take them home then Tues/Wed/Thurs get the train but that puts me 12 miles away from work which mostly has bike path and a bit of road - but bike path would be an issue at this time of year, with ice etc.

With the train fare costing the same as diesel for the trip the only saving to be made is by getting rid of the car.[/quote]

We're a two-car family at the moment. When daughter changes school in September, we're dropping a car. With that in mind, I know that all weather two-wheel commuting is coming to me soon. So, currently I do currently cut myself a lot of slack to jump in the car if it's drizzling a bit.

As far as actual training goes, I'm an inbetweener. I will start a ride in the wet if I have to, but will be prepared to cut it short or go out later / tomorrow. Why? Because I have to wear clothing that gets me hot and bothered and everything gets crudded up.

The Rookie

Mountain biker....with only about 5 weeks a year you can call dry you learn to just get on with it!

Commute in pretty much all weathers apart from torrential rain on the way in as its just too much hassle - I don't mind riding when wet its the getting wet that I dislike!

sungod

unless roads are icy i'm riding (roadie/commute)

never found london to be too windy though it may happen i guess, lanzarote have known 2-3 days over the years when i skipped a ride due to wind

btiratsoo

I'll ride in any weather bar ice really. Not because of being "hard" but to actually get a ride done. Clothing really does help. Mud guards are a vast help - I have only just embraced them this winter as I only ever ride on my own and so never worried about them. Bought an Equilibrium for commuting and winter riding duties. Can't keep off it now I have some decent clothes as well. The key to success is staying warm. Getting rained on is fine as long as you can keep warm.

If I go out on a wet day I will always plan a bail out into my loop in case it gets too much. I have only had to do that once so far. I jumped on the train from Portsmouth back to Eastleigh. Was warm enough by Eastleigh to ride the rest of the way.

oblongomaculatus

I've always found that however bad the weather looks from out of the window, and via the forecast, once I'm actually out there riding, it's never as bad as I was expecting. Having said that, I have a new rule for 2017 - if it's frosty, wait until it's melted (even if that means leaving it for another day). At the end of December I was half way through a longish ride on a cold but sunny day, and I came to a road that was still white, because it was in the shade of a wood. I went cautiously, but on a flat, straight road both wheels went sideways and I landed hard on my shoulder, breaking my collarbone, and, I was told after an X-ray, a rib. The rib wasn't much bother, but the collarbone was in several pieces, requiring surgery to pin it back together. I'm back riding now, but with much less confidence than formerly in my ability to stay upright on frosty roads.