Extreme conditions you have commuted in
 

Bike commuting definitely makes you much more aware of the weather and subject to its whims. Although I am certainly not as hard core as many of the commuters here, I do commute year-round and have ridden in my share of extremes. Here is my list:

- Hottest: about 105 F air temp, and probably 5-10 degrees hotter on pavement. It is also very humid in NC during summer, so that's not a dry heat.
- Coldest: about 15 F. It doesn't get much colder than that most winters in NC.
- Windiest: about 30-35 mph (gusts) on a number of occasions.
- Rainiest: about 1" during my commute, but I am a wimp and usually drive when it's rainy.
- Snowiest: flurries. We rarely ever get snow, and I wouldn't ride in it on purpose.
- Smoggiest: I have ridden on Code Red days for ozone and particle pollution but wouldn't recommend it. The worst was when we had heavy smoke from a large forest fire, and it was foolish of me to ride that day.
- Other: We had record high pollen levels this spring, and it made me miserable. I rode on 2 days when the pollen count exceeded 3,000, and that was probably not a smart choice as my allergies bothered me for weeks afterwards.

I'll have you know that I stubbed my toe while tending to my spice garden this morning, and I only cried for 20 minutes.

My temperature extremes are probably about the same as yours. As for wind, I did one commute this winter with 40-45 mph winds. I had toyed w/ the idea of taking metro instead, but decided to ride. At one point, I was able to lean into the wind (quartering tailwind) pretty hard and the wind basically accelerated me from just a few miles per hour up to a good maintained 15 mph on the flat surface of the bridge without pedaling. That was after riding into this wind as a headwind for a few very tiring miles, so I rather relished the reward! :-)

Here in the Boston area we thrive on extremes. Not a lot of snow this year but enough ice and cold. Here are some low lights. I leave my car at work, so when I pedal home, the only way to get back to work in the morning is to ride. February, 7 F , after 200 yds, my left eyelid froze shut. A quick stop and a rub, much better. 18 miles one way, after 1 hour, slushy gatorade is common. Fully frozen gatorade is a really cold ride. Nice cars give a wide berth on the road. When there is a slush pile between the tire tracks, it tends to cover the bike and your self with frozen slop. Exteme rain, and wind. Once I had rain blow up my nose, no joke. Wind, steady headwind, maybe 10-15 miles an hour. 10-12 mph on the flat, instead of my usual 18, crawling in the 39 t front ring. We had 18 inches of rain in March. On a dirt trail that I ride on every commute, went so deep that the water went over my hightops for 4 pedal strokes. It happened on the street that day too. Stopped and dumped the water from my shoes. Nice.
Highlights. On the Minuteman MUP, had a perfect 1/4 in of bumpy ice. Great for the studded tires, no I-Pod zombies or dogs in my way. The Minuteman MUP goes right past Spy Pond in Arlington. I went on the ice at speed, right through some boys ice hockey game. They were shouting "Ice Bike Dude".
I commute around my work schedule, so I get maybe 2-6 trips per week. If I were to let weather be a factor, I would not ride. There a not bad commutes, only bad clothing choices. I love my wool and gore-tex.

Hottest: ~105 F (Florida)
Coldest: -10 F (Michigan)
Windiest: gusts up to 50 mph (Michigan)
Rainiest: ~1" per hour (Florida)
Snowiest: 4"accumulation over the course of my 7 mile commute (Michigan)

None of these seemed too terrible to me at the time. What bothers me the worst are the huge changes in temperature between my morning and evening commutes. This spring I had at least one day where my morning ride was in the lower 30s and my evening ride was in the upper 70s.

Hottest - 120 F, I used to live near Palm Springs, so temps in the high 100 teens were usual in the summer.

Coldest - 17 F.

So I've done the Fahrenheit Century with over a 100 degree span in temps. Give me the heat anytime, but 57 F is perfect for shirtsleeve riding in the day.

I've commuted on some warm days, but a few friends and I made it a point to commute this past July 29 (the hottest day in Seattle history), mostly to lord it over our friends.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...b&id=686948735

Hottest: 108*F on my bike computer.
Coldest: estimate -25*F - the bike computer only goes down to -19*F, it was pegged there the whole time and parts of my ride are always a few degrees colder.
Windiest: Heck, how should I know? It's just "windy" - I don't have an anemometer on my bike. I'd guess 30 MPH steady headwinds with perhaps 45 MPH guests.
Rainiest: Really heavy, drenching downpours. Not often, but once a year or so.
One time, with pea-sized hail.
Snowiest: 12" on the ground, unplowed, going through car tire ruts, with it still snowing heavily.
Smoggiest: N/A - air quality here is in the top 10 percentile nationwide.
Pollen: Also N/A because it doesn't affect me. I grew up on a farm and honestly had never heard of allergies until I got to high school - I never saw anyone who had them before that. I can swim in the stuff and not notice.

Hottest: not very hot maybe 30 celsius but with the humidity it felt like 38. So that's pretty muggy.
Coldest: -5 celsius. I really only go out on dry, snow free days
Windiest: whoa! Nearly thrown by the wind into traffic! But I have no clue how fast it was going.
Rainiest: the typical soaked to the skin rain with wind and distant thunder you get in the summertime. The coldest rain I rode thru was in November and that felt like I was getting hit with ice pellets for a few minutes.
Snowiest: my ride to work was clear with no snow in the forecast but it snowed all afternoon and intermittently thru my commute home that evening. It was about 15 cm to 30 cm on the quieter streets with lots of slush on the busier streets. This was the worst ride ever and I had to walk the last 5 blocks home because my tires were mired in snow and I didn't have the strength or balance to keep pedalling.

In order of riding preference: Hottest-Rainiest-Coldest-Windiest-Snowiest.