banerjek

OR weather in the valley is generally pretty tame. We get a lot of cool rain and an occasional wind storm. It rarely snows, and temps go above 100 or under 15 only a handful of times a year. This week has been unusually cold in that we've had a few days where the temp during the morning ride has been around 10°F.

But that's not why I'm not riding today. Freezing rain is predicted in the pm. I've ridden in freezing rain many times over the years and finished rides on glazed surfaces with my bike, lights, and gloves looking like they've been varnished.

At the end of last winter, I decided I'm done pushing my luck. I've seen too many wrecks and know too many people who have broken bones. Ice requires a very high level of attention while you crawl at some pathetic pace that does nothing for fitness. And there's nothing fun about it, particularly in the dark. Kick a piece of gravel, make the slightest false move, and you can slam into the ground.

Eff that. I've always made a point of going out when warned not to, but as of today my days of riding in anything no matter how stupid (or possibly especially how stupid) are over. I still need my fix, but that's what trainer action is for.

matanza

The voice of REASON! Good Choice!!

jdon

I have to agree. Having fractured my pelvis last year on ice, I stick to dry roads and trails in the winter. Trainers work, don't like them but they work.

Flash

Thanks for posting this. I've had similar thoughts since my most recent post-snow rides. Me too on the wuss out. My big problem is fighting the wind and road gunk. As you correctly noted, at some point safety becomes an issue. Wind chill is in the teens today in Washington, DC area. I bought the Travel Trac aluminum rollers on sale at Performance yesterday and fired them up last evening. Great fun! Beats the hell out of stationary trainer. I'll use the rollers when the weather outside is frightful.

Velo Vol 

Not riding on ice is rarely an issue here. Neither is me wussing out.

banerjek

The question is on the rare day when ice is an issue, do you listen to banjo music to motivate you on your trainer?

ChrizzleDizzle6

i agree i wont ride in the winter too
too dangerous for me and im a newb still haha. do you you spin or do a stationary bike?

roadiejorge 

I don't ride when it's icy out either for all of the reasons you stated.

Daytrip

After I dislocated my shoulder at around age 40--suddenly--getting hurt lost all its appeal.

Eclectus

No ice-riding for me either. I wonder how a Pugsley would handle it though. That bike should give you a real workout even going slow.

Velo Vol 

The open road is my trainer.

umd

I'm normally a rain or shine guy, not that it rains much here, but my body has been telling me to take some days off so a rainy day like today seems like as good a time as ever. I'm taking tomorrow off too, to go to the auto show.

Atol

I stop riding when the weather goes below 50. I haven't been on the bike in a week.

banerjek

The question still remains about the banjo. Or is steel guitar preferred nowadays?

Velo Vol 

I don't have any banjo music . . . or solo guitar music for that matter.

clausen

I'm with you. A fall a few year ago on ice / snow bruised me up good. Cold and dry no problem, snow/ice covered I only go out with my MTB for brain cleanings. Luckily I can go xc skiing to keep aerobic conditioning, so time on the trainer doesn't need to go over 1 hour.

banerjek

Makes sense. The washboard is really better suited for generating a rhythm that you can use to set your cadence

Eclectus

Give a test-listen to Earl Klugh. A Stanford swimmer turned me on to this. Nice for rhythm riding. For us old fogies!

nayr497

Yep, I hear you on this one! And it makes me feel better to read some of the folks that have reasonable opinions and that I respect on this forum feel the same way

The weather here has been insane all week - very cold, very windy, snowy, rainy, ugly. Riding outside would have been unpleasant and possibly dangerous. It kills me to take time off, since I ride daily, but hey, is a few days off in December going to matter? Nope, I just ride for fun and mind-clearing and I'm actually feeling okay not riding a few days. Plus, I move 600 miles south in three weeks! I'm determined to avoid my rollers this winter, but we'll see with this weather. In another day or two I'll seriously need to get in some miles. Plus, I think I've gained 5 pounds just this week from not riding each day and being bad about adjusting my calories down.

Anyway, very pleased to read that I'm not the only one putting reason above cycling-love! Ride safely and don't feel too bad about wussing out

mike868y

After todays ride I am also wussing out. No sub 35F rides for me.

Gluteus

Great post.
Using your common sense should never be confused with "wussing out"

My junk is big enough. I don't need to compensate by doing idiotic stuff to "prove" how tough and "hard core" I am.

substructure

Is this "wussing out" mainly because of the road conditions? If so, then it's understandable. But just because of the cold? And it's not whether one is HardCore or not. Just whether or not he wants to ride.

banerjek

It's because of the road conditions. A weather warning was sent to all staff today and many people left early to avoid getting caught in it. I managed to get permission to telecommute today. I didn't want to be driving on ice with the idiots either.

I don't like missing my rides -- wound up doing an interval set with one of my Spinervals DVD's. It's not as fun as 2 1/2 hrs outside but it's enjoyable enough and probably better from a conditioning point of view. Plus it was nice to not freeze my ass off for a day. My legs are burned up, but I'm contemplating doing one of the easier DVD's as well. Something about riding always lifts my spirits.

Quel

I wish I had just hit the rollers today. I had a doctor's appointment, then just went home so I had some light and decided to go out for a ride. About 35*F, so it wasn't bad for the first half. Then on the return, I hit the wind that I had been enjoying the first half. Then it started to get dark, and I rode over some cobblestones which loosened up my computer sensor on the fork. Had to take off a glove to fix that, and my hand about froze off in the wind. Even after putting the glove back on, I was battling numb fingers in that hand for the rest of the ride. Wasn't good.