Seasonal Planning
 

With the solstice upon us, Bike Month is over and the hot months are looming. I just made you all this chart. The temperatures tend to correspond to the mid-points between each solstice or equinox due to seasonal lag, with details of temperature and rainfall dependent upon your own local climate.

Seasons

midwinter Feb 2-4
spring equinox Mar 20
peak spring May 5-6
summer solstice June 20-21
midsummer Aug 6-7
autumnal equinox Sept 22-23
peak autumn Nov 6-7
winter solstice Dec 21-22


Monthly Events

May is Bike Month in most places.
Bike To Work Day is often a Friday some time in this month but may vary by location.
The second Sunday in May is Mother's Day. Ask for bike stuff!

The third Sunday in June is Father's Day. This is at the same time as graduations in the retail calendar, "Dads and Grads." Ask for bike stuff!
Sometime in the 20-22nd of June is the summer solstice. It's the longest daylight in the Northern Hemisphere and so if you can't find time to bike to work that day, you may never.

Daylight Saving Time Table

Daylight saving time in the USA starts on the third Sunday in March. Spring forward!

Daylight Saving Time in the USA ends on the second Sunday in November. Fall back!

Year
Start
End

2017
March 12
November 5


2018
March 11
November 4


2019
March 10
November 3


Here's a neat web app that shows you sunrise and sunset times, and length of day, and usable twilight. Centered on my home town but hit the link and do your own search by ZIP code
Sunrise and sunset times in Orangevale

I have looked in the Apple app store and there are several iPhone apps that will give you an alarm based on sunrise or civil twilight. Perfect if you want to be on the floor and out the door as soon as you don't need a headlight.

Time to buy bike stuff?!?!
REI Member Sale and Coupon Timing

What ever.. its a week of Showers Here now..

What is this "planning" you speak of?

Oh right, that's where I grab my phone, check the high and low and rain forecast for the day and grab a selected set of clothes out of the heap. I really don't even care what the weather for tomorrow is supposed to be.

Well, I guess you two are just smarter and more clever than me. Congrats!

I suppose I should upgrade my account because part of your chart was covered with an advert for "13 celebs with wickedly weird deformities". I'm not sure why I'm wasting my time on this thread since all that goodness is just a mere click away.

Anyway it's good you're thinking ahead like that but I confess to being fairly light when it comes to planning. It drives my wife nuts. I barely know where I'm going today let alone spend any time thinking about how the upcoming solstice might influence my commute.

In fact this morning I saw my ski goggles in their bag perched upon the shelf where I keep my frequently used outdoor gear. I'm not really frequently using them right now but there they sit.

I do have in my head vague notions of when the equinoxes and solstices are. I also roughly know when daylight savings time begins and ends. Those things matter more in the other half of the year than they do now because of time spent riding in the dark vs light. Weather conditions are really a day to day thing but again this time of year is pretty easy riding compared to Winter so I don't give it much thought.

It's probably not surprising that someone in your part of the world might be more concerned with the Summer solstice that I am. I care a lot more about the Winter solstice when it comes to commuting.

More...

REI Member Sale and Coupon Timing

I'll try to see if there are some bike-industry standard dates for clearance sales. Good times to buy bikes and gear. Obviously they happen after summer and after Christmas. And they clear out lights, fenders, warm clothes in the spring.

The planning I'm doing right now is trying to remember what I wore out and need to replace before winter returns. (Which could be any day now, given the remarkable autumn weather we've had lately.)

I remember I need new gloves, and that I wanted to get some more wicking long-sleeve t-shirts to use a baselayers. With the new job, a few long-sleeve jerseys might be nice too.

And thanks, DL for the REI link. They're finally opening one here in the autumn. First in the state, I think.

Not sure where you are going with this. Every year is the same give or take a day. I've lived in the DC area my entire life (except the first 5 years), so the dates and corresponding weather patterns are pretty well memorized by now.

It'll be the Farmers Almanac for bike commuting

But where are the cute sayings and line art?

[scratches head]

I don't get it.

Nonetheless, like @tsl I also look at things that need replacing and order them accordingly:

Winter gloves--lost both pairs of mine; one mysteriously disappeared one day at work; the other fell out my pockets while riding home

Shoe covers--after two years with the neoprene BBB covers, which eventually worked well but are now ripping, I will have to order a new pair.

Mirror--got three helmets, two of which have mirrors mounted; third one is useless unless I order another mirror.

Long thermo riding tights--never have enough of these; I've used long winter running tights under cycling shorts, but it's a hassle.

My planning is: when my three-season bike's brakes start chattering from the cold weather, I switch to my winter beater. When I start getting spring fever, I try switching back and keep trying until the weather is warm enough for the brake pads to be supple again. ;)

Most of my seasonal planning is in deciding when to put on and take off the studded tires. Everything else is kind of gradual, and varies by the day.

I just look out the window. If it's raining, I drive. If it's not, I ride.

Unless, of course, I am dog tired, then I drive and eat some salty and fatty foods once I get to work. :)

Still don't get it. What does farming have to do with bike commuting? Unless you bike commute to a farm, I guess, but most of those people drive pickup trucks. Migrant workers ride who their bikes to the fields? Do they even do that?

I guess I don't understand. Down here, it's hot. And it's going to be soul crushingly hot until sometime in late September or early October, which then it will be pretty nice until December (and even then might be quite pleasant). Jan and Feb are our cold months, March, April and into May are usually pretty nice. That's about all I need to know.

I'll go with Twain for sayings. Pithy, plentiful, and cruel, and without the sanctimony of Franklin.

Line art will have to wait for the deluxe edition

If it's raining and cold, I put on rain gear. If it's raining lightly and warm, I dress as normal. If it's coming down buckets, maybe rain gear. If it's raining and high winds, I will probably finally bail and drive.

[MENTION=40124]ItsJustMe[/MENTION] do you at least have a weather rock?

Some people like to pore over or create data. Some don't. If you don't get it, you won't get it. I get it, and I like it.

Around here, daytime temperatures peak in July (usually) but August gets bad because the nights don't cool down as much as they do in July. It's worse in the city than the country because there is so much concrete and asphalt. New York City is built on a huge granite foundation, which is one of the secrets of the city's success. Unfortunately, the subway tunnels, dug out of the granite, absorb heat, and interestingly, the hottest month on subway platforms is September. That's how big the lag is. About 30 years ago, they started putting in air conditioned cars, and I'm grateful for that, because damn, it gets hot, but while it makes the ride better, it makes standing on the platform worse.

I guess I just don't understand what the chart is attempting to show. Maybe it's of more use in areas that are a little less homogeneous during the hot and cold month. Here, if it's 95 it may as well be 105 with heat index...which is a large portion of the summer. Not much difference in 95 and 99. It's hot, the air is thick and being outside is miserable. We've already gotten up to 99+ here. I'm guessing the chart is telling us certain days, to expect certain temp ranges? That's the best I can figure it. Having studied climatology for awhile, I guess maybe I am trying to overthink this, and what is painfully obvious to me isn't so to everyone?

I ride too far to tough it out in the rain from the get-go.

I'll cut down the table in the OP. I had cut off the times of the events, but without those it doesn't seem to need the years either.

True, I am only going 15 miles one way. Though I will soon be going 26 miles one way and still have no intention of skipping due to rain.

I used to drive if there was rain in the forecast. However, this is Michigan, there's always rain in the forecast. Eventually I realized that rain is actually not unpleasant unless it's also cold, and with good rain gear, I honestly forget that it's raining as I'm riding along.

Here's a neat web app that shows you sunrise and sunset times and length of day and twilight. I've sometimes considered timing my wakeup in order to start riding at the start of civil twilight or at sunrise, but it's never happened, and now that I'm married with a kid it probably never will!

Sunrise and sunset times in Orangevale