General Cycling Discussion - What's your excuse for not riding in the winter?

I was wondering for those of you that don't ride in the winter(in colder climates), what are your excuses?

I ride throughout the winter. I don't mind the cold and I ride my mountain bike so traction isn't a major problem.

I ride in the winter but it's 70F today.

I ride in the winter, but there are conditions that keep me indoors.

If the roads aren't safe (snow or ice): it's more important to be in one piece to train indoors than to crash and hurt yourself or your bike

If it's just too cold (below about 25 degrees F): it's more important to be healthy to train indoors than to get sick or burn your lungs

too much snow. which is good and bad, good for snowboarding bad for mountain biking... i think, i've actually never tried it. if theres enough snow to go boarding then do that.

65 and overcast :) going for a ride in 10 minutes

Its -25C today after the winchill (-12C without), there is a 1/4inch think layer of salt on everything. I don't want to ruin my steed, but I do run whenever the morning temp is above -8C, at least for now, that might get a bit colder still.

I like winter riding except when it is snowing. I even like riding in the rain.

ice and temps below -15 F will keep me off my bike, but nothing shy of a tornado is bad enough to make me stay indoors. In fact, if a storm is on its way in, I usually want to go out and watch the incredible lightning and feel the wind.
I envy those lucky folks who chase bad weather/tornados for a living.

I know it doesn't get down to the 30's (often) here in Houston, but I just want to hybernate. Since I have a harder time getting out of bed in the winter, my excuse for not riding my bike to work is I wake up late.

Not to mention the annoying upper respiratory infections.

reason for not riding in winter time to much Salt on the road, will ruin my bike, I am riding indoor, I know you guys will say its not the same, but I just don't want to ruin my bike with the salt

My mommy said that if my thingy gets all freezey it might fall off:( !

I get some really nasty asthma from exercising in cold air. And I also have no health insurance, and can't afford to risk breaking anything (bones OR bikes) on a patch of ice.

Frostbite. Once one has had a "cold injury", one is more susceptible. It sucks.:(

23mm tyres! :D :D

If it's below about 45F I just won't go out on my road bike. I will stay close to home on the MB in town but I just can't see keeping special winter clothes around when the winter here just doesn't last long here. ;)

Originally posted by Viper
23mm tyres! :D :D

My Concorde has 20mm

I dont ride from 1 Dec to 1 Apr because they close the sidewalks on the bridge over the St Lawrence river. When I worked on the island I rode a lot in the winter. When there was a snowstorm I woudnt ride for a few days until the roads were cleared, but there were as many days in the summer that I wouldnt ride because of the rain. I had special bikes for the winter - first a 3 speed folder then a mtn bike from a police auction, so I didnt worry about the salt too much.

Two great things about biking in the cold. Coming out of work and either hearing people scraping the ice off their windows, or hearing reluctant engines being turned over by flat batteries.

I ride in the winter, ever time it gets above 50 degrees!, which isn't to often in Kansas, although we have had a pretty mild winter so far. It was 68 on Sunday, beautiful! Oh, and don't forget the Kansas wind, makes it even colder!

Salt, cold, dark, and peep-hole drivers.

Originally posted by WorldIRC
...I don't mind the cold and I ride my mountain bike so traction isn't a major problem.


???? 20mm tyres? You da man!! :D

Lol no!

The road bike I built myself has 20mm tires.
My mountain bike has 2.3 inch tires.

None. :D

Ok, I have this persistent flu that has kept me off the bike for 4 weeks now. Really annoying. I rode before that and plan to ride again as soon as my throat gets better. My rides tend to get shorter as temperature gets below -20C or so, but I do ride. I don't own a car, so I need the bike to get around.

--J

There are 19 velodromes in the U.S., and I have the 20th. My 'drome is a quiet subdivision three blocks from where I live. If it's really cold, and I'm not really into riding, I go over there and do 25 laps on a 4/10ths mile circuit, which includes a pretty stiff hill. The streets are very wide, so I usually take a radio with earplugs to make the time go faster. I keep a log, and try to improve my average speed for the 25 laps, which takes about one hour -- this makes it more interesting. If it turns out to be just too cold or it starts raining, I can abort my ride and I'm only three blocks from home.

I ride through the winter, but have been off the bike for the past 3 or 4 weeks as a result of having the cold, and due to the fact that, when temps drop below freezing in this part of the world, we tend to get a lot of black ice (a result of the damp conditions I suppose), which you cannot keep upright on.

Yeh.... winters suck!. I don`t know how i have survived commuting through over 30 of them, guess in some respects I am what a lot of them call me at work "masachistic" .
But I stick it out through all the freezing winds, snows and as Chewa mentioned, the horrible black Ice that stays invisible until your front wheel hits it.
But then I forgive maybe 10 awfull mornings for just the 1 lovely winters day when the temp rises, the salt has been washed off the road with the overnight rain , all is peacefull on the backroad into town, That just makes it all worthwhile.

Love you all.......see how such a morning makes me feel. :love:

Here in PA right now it is 13 degrees-too cold. Additionaly there are ice patches that are hard to avoid during my city commute; just too dangerous. Usually around March I have enough light and no ice to contend with so I start commuting then. Right now I am limited to my mt. bike close to home and long walks.

I ride the trainer 3-4 times/wk and added 2 weight sesssions/wk this winter. Outdoor riding is not an option with below zero F temps and over 4 ft of snow on the ground. The backroads are still snow covered and the main roads have ice on the shoulders.

I haven't been on any of my steeds for nearly 2 weeks now. Although I have 2 bikes capable of riding in winter conditions, it seems that every day brings one or more of the following conditions:

Unplowed paths with compressed footprints: These are nearly impossible to ride on, especially when there is about 6" of fresh snow on top. Only my wide-tyre ATB can get through this stuff/

Sloppy roads: When the shoulder/runoff area is filled with snow-slop-slush, I'm forced to ride even further inside the traffic lane. When there is a layer of soupy, salty slush on the road, the cars splash this on me. Even wearing waterproof windpants, you get really cold really fast...

Wind: I don't care whether it's cold or warm, riding in a 35 mph crosswind is dangerous when traffic is involved. Add packed snow and ice, well, forget about it!

Today, it's about 0 degrees F (about -25 C), but I'm going to try and ride my bike around the local cemetary for a while.

For me the biggest limiting factor is
short days. I do not like riding at night here in
the Dallas Suburbs. I'll ride on the weekends as long
as its not too cold (say below 0 degree Centigrade) and
windy (had 40 mph gusts last week, fun!).
Snow, salt etc. is not usually a factor. I will also not
ride during Ice storms (sleet and freezing rain).
On most weekdays I'm happily on my rollers at 04:15.

Marty

This morning it was -37C (-35F I think). Nuff said :)

Originally posted by Spire
This morning it was -37C (-35F I think). Nuff said :)

I told you it was colder there :)

Originally posted by Spire
This morning it was -37C (-35F I think). Nuff said :) :) I love these temps,But heavy snow keeps me off the road when Their is heavy traffic.