This has been my most challenging summer (and year) for bike commuting yet, mainly due to the weather. Like most Eastern states, NC had a colder and snowier winter than usual. Summer has also been cooler than usual but very humid with lots of thunderstorms. Many of these storms have been quite severe with heavy downpours, flooding streets and lots of lightning. We're running 10" above normal in rainfall for the year, with most of that surplus occurring in July-August. Needless to say, my commuting mileage is off, but ironically my total mileage is a little higher than usual -- mainly due to several long bike trips and generally nice weather on the weekends. Typically, commuting accounts for half or more of my total mileage but it's about 45% right now.
Essentially, deciding whether to ride every morning is a roll of the dice. Will I get caught in another thunderstorm or make it home unscathed? I decided to ride today, despite one forecaster calling for a 50% chance of afternoon thunderstorms and another one calling for 30%. My wife and I are going to the beach this weekend, with no bikes, so I want to get one more day of riding in. I'll find out this afternoon whether my gamble paid off.