I love winter
 

because I live and ride in Florida, and it’s hot as hell here. Winter is great.

That's not winter.

Enjoy your winter!:speedy:

Dont the hurricanes cool it down. How about all the trash on the trails from them.

I've heard of Florida. It's like a foreign country where a bunch of old people live, right? Well, the old people and Jimmy Buffett, I guess. Maybe those old folks figured it out, eh?

I love winter too! But not for the same reasons.

Where I live it won't be long before we're sliding down the ski slopes and through the snowy glades in the crisp early-morning light - nothing else like it in the world and I can't wait!

I would hate to live in Florida with pancake flat roads. I'll take the cold with some hills at least. The 40's is my favorite riding weather anyway.

I'm with you. Just had my first morning (5am) ride this season where I needed sleeves. I just can't ride any distance on summer days here (April - October).

Last summer in Colorado was nicer. Although I couldn't ride much of a distance there either (6,000 - 7,000 ft). :cry:

Winter in the north is an acquired taste. As it is said, "there is no bad weather, just bad equipment."

I went to Inverness over Christmas a couple years ago to ride the Withlacoochie Trail. There was a terrible cold snap and blizzard back home but I was swimming in 85 degree weather. It was my best Christmas EVER!

Florida rules!!

Actually, NW Fl (The panhandle) has quite a few hills - Not mountains, mind you, but a lot of rolling hills in some areas, especially off the main roads.
And the temps DO definitely get down to the 40's and below, but a lot of 60-70º days as well.
But the drivers can be just as bad sometimes, and the shootings maybe not as common (in the rural areas, anyway), but the confederate flags maybe more so.
Interestingly, the summertime temps are often higher here than down in "Banana Land", on the peninsula .

FL=Highest rate of cycling deaths in the U.S. CA has more, but not on a per capita basis.

FL has the lowest highest point of any U.S. state. A whopping 345' above sea level, so the most elevation one can get on any single hill is 345', and that's only possible if starting at sea level.

Despite what Moxy Fruvous believes, Delaware has a higher maximum elevation than Florida.

the great thing about loving or not loving where you live is that the road can take you someplace else at any time

The opposite for me
 

I live in Raleigh and for the most part hate summer.
Riding is fine as long as I leave early morning and get back before lunch. But working outside in the heat and humidity not to mention pollen etc. can be unbearable.
Heat coupled with high humidity sucks and drains my energy.
Now that fall is here, the temperatures are cooler and the air is much fresher. If we had 8 months of temps in the 60's and low 70's I'd be a happy camper.
I feel it is better for me but everyone is different.

FL might be flat but a straight 30 mile shot into a headwind on a SS with a high gear is work!

I rode out to Key Biscayne once, and a number of people were doing William M Powell bridge repeats.

The per capita gap between Florida and California appears to be closing in recent years--in 2016, they were really close. Truth is, though, that a lot of the year to year fluctuations look pretty random, but Florida has consistently been at the top of the list, sometimes by a little but more often by a lot.

remember that movie Endless Summer where a cpl surfers travel the world. wonder if anyone did that with bikes traveling the world always staying in good weather

like the "Point Break" for cycling

FL sucks. I may not like snow, but I hate the endless summer this place has become. 92 degrees in late October is not right.

Having moved from FL to Iowa last year I can see why you'd say that! Iowa is brutal. That's why I live in OK now, it's pretty much the best of both worlds.

Central Texas has some of the best winter riding weather in the country! It's almost enough to make up for living in a pizza oven from May through September. :notamused: