Steely Dan

yesterday morning was 63 degrees in chicago.

this morning was about 45 degrees (cold front rolled through last evening).

it was the first sub-50 morning temp of the fall season in the windy city.

i estimate that i saw about half the number of cyclists (maybe even less) along my route this morning as i did yesterday.

somewhere between 63 and 45 degrees there seems to be a break point where a whole crapload of fair-weather bike commuters simply throw in the towel.

anyone else ever notice such a stark difference in day to day commuter numbers due to a dramatic 24 hour weather change?

chefisaac

60 is the cut off around here, especially if it is colder in the morning.

antimonysarah

For me, it tends to be "when my commute starts in twilight or later", which is, sadly, coming soon.

dramiscram

Soft people....

jeffpoulin

We had a few mornings in the 30s and I noticed some bike commuters came in later than usual. They still rode in though. However, this time of year, there is always a big drop in bike commuters which I think has more to do with the length of the day rather than the temperature. Most of the bike commuters around here are not prepared to ride in the dark.

Steely Dan

the decreasing daylight probably plays a role in some overall seasonal drop-off, but in the case of yesterday and today in chicago, i have to strongly suspect that the 18 degree temperature difference between the two mornings played a much bigger role in the drastically reduced number of other cyclists i saw as opposed to the 2 or 3 minutes of daylight we lost from yesterday to today.

in my three and a half decades of living here, i've come to the conclusion that chicagoans, generally speaking, are just ridiculously soft people. i guess that's why more than half the damn city has moved to phoenix over the past 50 years. it's still amazing to me how many of the soft people stick around given our climate.

caloso

City of Easily Chilled Shoulders.

unterhausen

I saw a lot of commuters until it started getting colder in the morning. We've had a couple of weeks of colder weather. Now there are still students riding in closer to campus, but the people that were riding 5 miles in have seemingly disappeared

ItsJustMe

When it's cold, I'm the only one on the roads. When it's warm, I'm the only one on the roads.

Seriously, there are simply no other commuters here. None at all.

On warm afternoons I'll see a roadie once every couple of weeks during my commute home.

tjspiel

Here it's not temps so much. I think going from a sunny day to a rainy one will have a bigger impact. Yesterday I noticed a lot fewer cyclists at what normally is a busy intersection than the day before. A temp swing was part of it but it was also horrendously windy yesterday. If it had just been 20 degrees colder there would have been fewer riders but the difference wouldn't have been as dramatic.

Also I wonder if there will be sort of a recovery as people get used to actual Fall weather. A 45 degree start to the day will be considered normal or even warm.

As others mentioned, darkness weeds out the riders who don't have the necessary lighting and when the snow flies that's when it's over for a whole swath of riders.

wphamilton

The drastic drop-off around here is just after "perfect weather." From 25F to 60F is about the same, just a few die-hards, and below that I'm usually all alone. Except for runners. Nothing stops them.

devianb

I would say when 40° is the high.

groovestew

On my route, I don't see a ton of other cyclists even in warm weather. This morning had below-freezing temperatures, and I saw as many other cyclists out as I do in the summer. In past years, I've hung up the bike when snow and ice start to accumulate on the roads and trails, generally by the end of November. By then, the bike racks where I park my bike tend to be pretty empty.

tjspiel

Steely Dan: Your route is along the lake front, correct? Was it still sunny yesterday? Had the wind kicked up?

I live in Minneapolis but I've spent a lot of time around Lake Superior in all kinds of weather. One thing I've noticed is that being next to a large body of water has a way of magnifying weather. A pleasant day can even be more pleasant by the beach. A dismal day can seem very foreboding by a big lake or ocean. I always love being by water but sometimes it's better experienced next to a fireplace on the other side of a large sheet of glass.

Commuting in a mostly urban landscape is different.

It was near 80 here on Tuesday but much colder, windier, and grayer yesterday. Got about a foot of snow in the NW part of the state and we may see some flurries here tonight.

musikguy

Here in northern Colorado there are usually 6 to 10 bikes (including mine) at the bike rack at work with the temps ranging anywhere from 60 to 90 degrees recently. Yesterday was 41 degrees and there were two bikes: mine and another brave soul. So my guess is when the temp dips below 50, people start the rationalizations.

Steely Dan

it's mixed. the first 3 miles are right across and through downtown chicago. then it's 7.5 miles on the lakefront path. and finally it's another 4.5 miles back on city streets up to downtown evanston.






yesterday was cloudy, today was partly sunny.





the wind out of the west this morning was maybe a bit stronger than yesterday when it was more NW, but honestly, at this time of year it's always a bit windy out on the lakefront. as we move closer to november, calm days become rarer and rarer. the big striking difference between this morning and yesterday morning was the 18 degree temperature drop.

caloso

Here in Sacramento it feels like summer has finally ended, a few weeks late. I think it's been the hottest September on record and temperatures have finally become bearable. And I fully expect to see fewer riders.

Mark Stone

Hahahaha! In El Paso there's no difference in the amount of warm weather/cold weather commuters. It's always usually just me!

Cyclon

Southern Californians are soft. 70 degrees and many are wearing sweatshirts/jackets with pants and complaining it's too cold. I'm still biking in shorts and t-shirt in the 55 deg mornings.

Ekdog

It never gets very cold here, but whenever it rains the number of cyclists drops dramatically.

Cyclon

With regular gas in Southern California hitting $4.60 and premium gas hitting $4.80 perhaps we can only hope that the soft bike commuters stand up to their fear of the "cold" weather and overcome it. And we can only hope that new people take on commuting by bike.

no motor?

I rarely see other cyclists, so I can't really comment. I think some of the pole who see me ride think I'm crazy to begin with, and even crazier for riding today.
I had to break out the warmer clothes yesterday - one set for the ride in and another for the ride home.

dscheidt

How do you get from the end of the lake front path to Evanston?

I didn't notice that big a drop from yesterday, but I'm riding late enough that I don't see that many people. I'm sure I'll notice fewer people out with their bikes at night, though.

caloso

My observation is the softest are the migrants from the upper midwest. Maybe they were traumatized by the cold as children.

Ns1

I stop riding when it rains. I don't care as much about how hot/cold it is.