Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Just for fun - worst weather you've completed a Century?

I'm riding in my first organized century/mod tour this weekend and there's rain forecast with temps hovering right at the freezing point for the first 2-3 hours of the tour. Just warm enough that there won't be actual ice, but just cold enough that it's getting a little trickier to plan what kind of clothes layering I want to do.

What would be the limit for you veterans to say "nope" to doing a full century? What are the freakiest kind of conditions you've actually ridden through? If a certain temp wouldn't deter you, would you still ride through things like hail or lightening? Just curious who might have the most interesting story to tell.

This is the story of my coldest century:
http://www.machka.net/brevet/Coldest_Century.htm

This is probably the worst weather I've encountered on a brevet ... I only made it halfway through that 600K:
http://www.machka.net/brevet/2005_600.htm

Here's my hail on a 200K brevet story:
http://www.machka.net/brevet/2005_200_4.htm

The most lightening I've experienced on a brevet probably occurred on this 1000K ... I also saw several funnel clouds and a tornado:
http://www.machka.net/1000/1000km.htm

Many of the rest of my brevet stories are here if you're interested, but those ones probably have the wildest weather:
http://www.machka.net/brevetstories.htm

Thanks for the links! Wow... -25F ... I thought Minnesotans were hardy, but that's amazing!

Looking again at the forecast, the ride's in less than 8 hours - it's rain, 40F with 20 mph wind bringing it down to 32, turning into thunderstorms about 2 hours from the start time, still hovering in the 40's. Going to give it my best, I have my gear prepped for everything but lightening and hail. Reading stories like the above makes me feel like I at least should be able to tough it out.
Thanks again!

I told myself I'd never do a century that cold again ........ but I've ended up doing a few with starting temps not too far off that. Fortunately all the ones since then have warmed up a bit more than that one did during the ride.

Not a century, but the Oregon Randonneurs 200k (125mi) brevet this spring must have set some kind of record. It rained literally ALL DAY. At the first control, 40 miles in, the temp was 38f degrees (and raining). Coming back thru the same town at mile 85, the temp was up to 52f (and of course still raining). How do you stay dry on a day like that? You don't. You just try to stay warm - wool socks, gloves, jersey and armwarmers, Drylete tights, PI Event (Goretex kinda stuff) jacket, and a fleece cap under my helmet kept me out of hypothermia in spite of absorbing a good 10 pounds of water over the day.

SP
Bend, OR

I think the worst weather on a century was some ride in Colorado Springs...although I don't remember which one. We were getting toward the end of the ride with a climb to the end when it started hailing....but really big chunks so we just hunkered down under some thick bushes by the side of the road. I've had much, much worse weather on shorter rides of course, but most of my centuries and brevets have all gone very well.....fortunately!

Well, there's what I think is bad, and then there's what everybody else thinks is bad. I actually like riding in the rain if it's not below 50° or so. On one of the Long Island centuries a couple of years ago, it was a bunch of people complaining and grumbling and me in clipless sandals having a grand time riding through puddles.

The 200K brevet I did a couple of weeks ago, though, sounds a lot like bobbycorno's--rain, cold, and hills. It was somewhat less fun.