I agree with the Mighty KraneXL---most cyclists aren't smart enough to ride well in the rain. After all, between a fifth and a third of accidents involving cyclists supposedly happened in the rain.
Oh, wait ... those are numbers for Automobiles. So ... more bogus data.
Also ... death and injuries related to weather ... so if weather made you crash, in your car, it likely wasn't a tornado ... Brilliant! Yeah, rain and snow are pretty much All the "weather" which most drivers face .... so yeah, if weather is a factor, rain or snow would be the prime suspects. Not tsunamis, I guess.
As I mentioned in another post, I rode pretty much daily for nearly two decades in the cycling-death capital of the country (at that time.) I rode when I had to, regardless of weather.
You know who else does that stuff? Kids. So if children can handle it, I guess I can be childish.
Yeah, you do have to take the lane a lot more, and you have to be extra cautious around cars, and you can't storm into corners like a racer. But I rode steel rims for quite a while (because they were cheap, and that's what came on the cheap bikes I pulled from the trash and Frankensteined together.) So the idea that no one can stop in the rain ...
Say, who here as never heard of "bicycle racing"?
Racers go downhill at ridiculous speeds, wet or dry. And they do it (for the most part) safely. If no one could stop in the rain, every rainy stage would be postponed or canceled. And there is ample evidence that racers race in the rain ... so ...
Yeah, if people are Afraid of riding in the rain, that is legitimate, and I respect those people for recognizing their limitations ("A good man knows his limitations," Mr. Eastwood told us.) I have had to face my fear-based limitations both in road-riding and more particularly in MTB riding. We all want to be Mr. Macho, but sometimes I would stop at the top of a drop-in and just say "No." I know that if I am afraid enough, I won't have the fine motor control to pull off the descent, and I will crash--I learned the heard (-headed) way. So for those people afraid to ride in the rain---bravo.
But don't try to sell the rest of the world on the idea that it is impossible just because you choose not to do it. Some people even enjoy it. You aren't wrong---and neither are they.
I just missed a week of riding because every day I waited to see if it would rain and by the time it either did or didn't I had missed my window of riding time. No more. I am ready to hit the road regardless.