I was riding a minimum of 10 miles a day, eating right etc. etc.. My wife scolded me for continuing to ride when the weather turned cold and soggy... I kept riding... Now? day #14 with a bad virus that has had me off the bike for two weeks and counting. It's "going around" here but I thought I'd have a little extra immunity from being healthier than I've been in years. This virus settles in the lungs and makes breathing difficult. I still don't think riding the bike in cold wet weather had anything to do with me getting sick but my wife sure is getting some good "I told you so" s' in.

It didn't ,she's wrong.

Velominati, "Keepers of the Cog" Rule #9

If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.


Fair-weather riding is a luxury reserved for Sunday afternoons and wide boulevards. Those who ride in foul weather – be it cold, wet, or inordinately hot – are members of a special club of riders who, on the morning of a big ride, pull back the curtain to check the weather and, upon seeing rain falling from the skies, allow a wry smile to spread across their face. This is a rider who loves the work.....

Velominati ? The Rules

That would be Lance Armstrong. He was a druggie but he also worked a lot harder than all of his critics and prosecutors, no matter what the weather.

I'm not a badass but as long as it's not snowing, I don't see a problem with riding in the cold or wet. Based on the logic "stay out of the cold" we'd never do any winter sports.

Just a matter of a lowered immune system at just the right time - probably due to riding. Cold weather or not, you would have got the bug.

yep, cold does not give you a cold....but let her enjoy her moment.

Funny, but as I was riding yesterday in heavy fog and light rain . . . I actually thought about Rule # 9. Part of me was saying "Turn back, this is too dangerous!" but just the thought of Rule # 9 kept me climbing in this horrible weather. The temp was 42 Deg.F so I thought, "Not really all that cold!" and kept going.

As if to answer my thoughts, and as I descended to 6,000 ft., the sun came out and I was able to take off my rain jacket . . . not badass any more but I didn't care.

Rule # 9 is not going to prevent the OP's virus, but it's not going to cause it either.

Rick / OCRR

+1

Another case where people confuse correlation with causation.

I read somewhere that colds and flu are more common with the onset of cold weather because people come into closer contact with one another that time of year (particularly children entering school).

I do think that overall, regular exercise improves your immune system. But I also think that your immune system is somewhat compromised during and immediately after the activity itself. Don't ask me for proof though ...

Where was this?

Hi Vic,

Big Bear area. I started out from our cabin (Fawnskin), took Northshore drive to the dam, turned right and headed up the climb to the area locals call "The Arctic Circle." Dark, cloudy and windy on Northshore, hit fog on Hwy 18, light rain a short time later.

This was shorts, jersey, base layer, arm warmers, knee warmers, wool socks but no shoe covers. I was okay to the summit but it was very dark and me with just a small helmet flasher (not smart). It was (visually) cool the way the thermals lifted the fog almost vertically over the roadway. Would have made a great photo by Vic Cooper!

At the summit I put on my Showers Pass jacket (so, hopefully, the drivers could see me before they ran me over). So yes, a scary fast (and wet) descent but back at lake level the rain stopped and fog decreased. By the time I got to the Discovery Center on Northshore the sun had come out so I took off my rain jacket and rode over to Starbucks (on Big Bear Blvd.).

Funny, but the barrista there advised me not to ride up to the Arctic Circle (too late buddy, been there, done that) since the fog was so thick! After coffee I took off on South Shore climbed Boulder Bay climbs, descended (new pavement, yes!) to the dam and took North shore back to the cabin.

You should ride Tour de Big Bear some day! Jackie, Rosanne and I had ridden to Onyx the day before.

Saturday's ride on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/415904668

Sunday's ride on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/415904671

Rick / OCRR

It's all good. Now I have time to read all the bicycle mags I have accumulated and drool over bikes I can't afford

Failure? No failure, only feedback. Recovery and rest are important, too. Get well, first, then get back on the bike. One other thing, listen to your wife. And maybe check your vitamin D3 level.

OP, I don't think your plan failed. It was just the luck of the draw you got ill. However, let your wife be "right". They always know best! At least mine thinks she does. After my bike accident, she did not want me to go riding again. Done more than 2000 miles since May with no problems. (other than wearing out the tires and chain) Take it easy and get back on the bike soon.

Speaking of bolstering the immune system, - garlic and lots of it is part of the answer. It will improve the immune system and prevent many undesirable consequences including warding against vampire bites. My Mom always cooked with plenty of garlic and no one in our family was every bitten by a vampire, not even once. Positive proof right there and over many years.

You should listen to your wife.

My wife had the bad luck to attend a meeting with an elementary school teacher. 3 days later, she was down with that virus and 2 days later I had it. Down into our lungs it went. We were unable to exercise or do much of anything for a month. We both had asthma, my wife bad enough to get scary. We had our flu shots, too.

We're OK now and back at it, but wow are we crappy. My resting HR was up 15 beats and we lost about 1/3 of our power on the tandem. I figure we'll be back to where we were in about 3 months. We're doing zone 1 or 2 either outside or on our trainers every day and an hour twice a week at the gym.

Interesting. We had come back from a long cold backpack, but weren't exposed until we'd been back for several days. We had been taking the week we got sick completely off from training. Of course it's not a good idea to let your body temperature get down to 33°C. When I had an acute appendicitis in college, I crawled through the snow to the infirmary. Body temp was below 33°, but I didn't catch cold. The nurses were taking turns taking my temperature and shaking their heads, thinking their thermometers couldn't be right. They had the thing out in a few hours, and I was doing pushups beside the bed the next morning. I've always been like this.

I think the best rule of cycling while sick is ride if it's above the neck, don't ride when it's below the neck.

One day I was getting ready to ride (when well) in nasty winter weather, and my wife chided me, "You just want to ride so you can write about it in Bike Forums."

Another factor is that immune function gets lower as the amount of sunlight falls in the, er, Fall. Elderly people tend to have lousy immune systems year-round, but the rest of us (young at least at heart) get that same lowered response just as we enter the time of year when we spend more time indoors with other people.

OP, take care with this virus. If it is the adeno virus that has been common here, it killed some children back east earlier in the year. That's just plain weird (and tragic) for an adeno virus, which usually are subclinical infections. My wife got it and spent three weeks down, then hit rock bottom with a secondary bacterial pneumonia. She got better, we got a couple of tandem rides in, then it was my turn. I'm finishing week three and I'm still not fully recovered.

the operating word is VIRUS, you don't get infected from wet or cold, it's from coming in contact with someone or something that had it, then giving it access by touching you eyes, mouth, nose, etc...

all wet and cold can do is put the body under stress and lower it's ability to fight it off.

Yeah, you get sick from being confined indoors, not being outdoors. Keep it going man.

Riding a bike, whatever the weather, doesn't give you a cold or prevent you from getting one. You may wish to avoid people who are fond of saying, "I told you so," especially when they are wrong.

I am just curious..... the etc. etc.... does that mean you DID get a flu shot?

No, I didn't get a flu shot yet but this is NOT the flu.. Finally over the hump on day 16. I will be getting flu shot, pneumonia shot, shingles and whooping cough shots as soon as I'm over this dreadful virus.

LOL, that would be difficult to do. It just seems to me women always reserve the right to say "I told you so" but men dare not say that to their wives