Originally Posted by CrankyOne

How far is your commute? What kinds of facilities?

Americans way over-complicate bicycling — thus 'the routine'. Outside of the US, where massively more people ride bicycles for transportation, you don't see all of the complications. There is no prep or routine or extensive planning or pretending to be a race car driver. You get dressed, get on your bike, and get to wherever you're going, all in normal clothes.

As others have said, you don't need to ride every day. I'll ride in rain but not heavy rain or lightning. I'll ride just about any distance down to about freezing and I'll ride a mile in just about any weather. If it's 0F, cloudy, windy and I've got 5 miles each way then I'll drive — with zero guilt for doing so. I'll also mix modes on bad weather days like ride a Citibike to the train, train for the bulk of my journey, and then Citibike to my destination.

On sketchy weather days I'll often not make the mode choice until time to leave. Riding is my default but, depending on distance, if it's raining hard or extremely cold I'll drive. Since I'm wearing the same clothes either way I need only choose a warmer jacket or rain suit on my way out the door if necessary. For light rain an umbrella works quite well.

BTW, good comment from [MENTION=5694]PaPa[/MENTION]tom, if I'm on the fence I'll ride and almost always be glad I did once I get going (though there have been a few times I wished I'd driven).