electrik

I used to be a no matter what, but I now draw the line at lightning after several close calls. I suggest you consider this too, it is a different game with lightning, not like snow or sleet or rain. The statistics are misleading, many outdoors men are struck multiple times by lightning while the majority of the population is never exposed to such risks because they're in a car or house this makes lightning strike seem less dangerous than it is.

I also will not go down a forested path or in a forest during a severe thunderstorm, had some close calls with falling tree-limbs also!

Getting hit by hail hurts also.

ghettocruiser

I do know a disturbingly high number of people who have been nearly hit by lightening.

And when I say "nearly hit" I mean "An object within 15 feet of them blew up as a result of the strike".

Still, lightening storms in Toronto usually last only 30min or so, I just stall before setting out or lie low if I'm in-transit.

electrik

Yeah, I get paranoid if I have to cross an open area and a storm is approaching. Most storms pass in 30 mins... unlike that crazy one this summer, which i wouldn't even dare go outside in! Even still, you can get lighting strike ahead and behind the storm for kilometers, such an incident almost got me on one occasion. Wasn't raining, no warming other than thunder in the distance. So it's quite true if you can hear the thunder you're already within striking distance!

DX-MAN

Ice/deep snow sends me to the bus stop.

Other than that, I ride.

CCrew

That's where I am. I'll almost always ride, and it's my first choice, but some days I just want something different.

wheel

This reminds me of the "I never break the law" group.

No matter what you are going to take a day off or simply not feel like it.

Even car free people take mass transit.


Last four years I haven't had choice no transit. 320 plus days riding a bike each year of course 300 of those days were sunny .

azesty

I do, unless infirm, or some taking somebody to work with me, or have to yomp too much stuff to work.

Having said that, it has yet to go below 0 degrees C here, but it does get hot and humid in the summer. Rode through a crazy lightning and rain storm last summer. It was exciting, and with so many tall things around me I didnt feel very unsafe, though some of the bolts seemed very close.

z

Jim from Boston

My limits of my 14 mile early morning weekday bicycle commute in Boston are in approximate order of frequency:

-the need to travel to a distant site from my workplace (even then I sometimes cycle in and rent a car)
-not enough sleep because I worked late the night before
-need to come home particularly early
-illness (not enough to miss work)
-prolonged drenching rain
-active lightning, which I can wait out if possible
-high winds, which I have never encountered yet (according to some suggestions about 45 mph)

My lowest temperature has been minus 8* F and I have never been too hot, especially in the early AM. A particular motivation to ride on a nasty day is to answer that perennial question, "You didn't ride in today, did you?," almost always asked in the negative. Yesterday on arrival it was 4* and I was asked twice. My current response is I ride to test my gear for when it gets really cold.

One personal observation is that no matter how well prepared for cold and/or rain, the first ten miles is tolerable, and then I endure the rest. BTW, I have to admit that I take a Commuter Rail Train back to within about two miles of my home, so my misery is that much less.

Pedaleur

In. Only 2.8km to work, but 14km round trip (twice a week) to take the daughter to school in the trailer. Did it today after 6" snow (though mostly plowed bike paths).

Catgrrl70

I have discovered my limits are conditions that make the roadway unridable rather than the mental/physical part of it. The only things that have got me off my bike are: 1) Ice due to a very hilly commute and 2) flooding that makes the roadway into a lake or river

Of course this does not include social functions after work which pretty much guarantee I'll be on the bus home.

dlester

I commute every day, all year 'round, and live in the middle of the Cascade Mountains. This time of the year it is much more of a challenge than it is in the summer months.

JoeyBike

My scenario exactly.

I have been car free for 20 years. I ride in some pretty nasty weather, but never snow or ice - we don't get that in New Orleans. Groundstrike lightning..."F it"

nashcommguy

Yeah, this became my attitude of late, too. When my commute was 20 mi rt/urban I was always in. Now that it's 40 mi rt/rural I found I got weary of the grind. Not of the cycling at all, but all of the ancillary stuff that goes with it. The constant level of concentration, attention to details, making sure I've got clean cycling clothes, proper gear for both legs of the commute, etc. Not to mention emergency repair equipment, making sure of re-charging batteries, etc. After 20+ years one would think it's automatic, but there's the problem. It had become SO automatic I'd forget obvious stuff, sometimes. At 40 miles daily one needs to plan/think more like a tourer than a commuter.

Have been laid-off since November, so I started swimming again. 40-60 mins 3/4 times per week. I find myself missing my bike after a few days and I'll go for a 20-40 miler 2-3 times per week now. Ride my singlespeed almost exclusively. It's gotten fun again.

Lot's Knife

I've ridden every workday for the past four years save twice, when I drove a rental car instead.

But I rode my bike to the airport to pick it up.

daven1986

I will do my damnedest to ride every day

TheLifeOfBryan

Twice my girlfriend has come and picked me up because a summer thunderstorm with lots of lightning developed right on top of us. Other than that, so far, I've held to the NMW standard. So far.

Marylandnewbie

I'm in the club. I'm usually riding without regard to weather. If I can't alter my route to something relatively ice free I skip out on the extremely icy days, but around D.C. area those are relatively few. I am chagrined to admit that I haven't ridden this week due to a broken derraileur cable that I haven't had time to replce. sometimes life gets in the way of a good ride!

AzTallRider

My commitment to myself is that I only drive if I have an appointment outside the office, which happens maybe once every 2 weeks or so. I'm a sweaty guy, so I shower at work each morning. Switching back to bike clothes and showering again because I had a doctor's appointment is just too much time not working, especially as I am a consultant paid by the hour.. :-) I don't let the Arizona heat stop me.

8.2 miles each way.

bikegeek57

I'm impressed. I won't ride if wind chills are in single digits (maybe next year) or in lightening storms (anymore). I ride my 22+ mile round trip commute everyday otherwise. So I am not a member. Oh well. Justawannabe.

rumrunn6

the worse the weather; the more attractive the ride is

CB HI

Well, I have to admit to staying home during the 100 mph hurricane winds.

CFXMarauder

Started commuting by bike June 1st of last year and so far I have rode in everything thrown at me..So far the worst has been 28F rain but there a bit where it rained almost everyday for like 15 days..Only once have I taken the car to work and that was because I was two hours late for work .. I probably would not ride in a hurricane.


Also Got some strange looks at work today when I showed up at 11:00 am with car keys in my hand..A co-worker commented "Took the car cuz of the rain HuH !!..Your finally starting to smarten up"...I explained to him I was there to pick up my rain gear, drop off some clean clothes and that my shift didn't start till 2:30pm so was gonna drive back home, grab a bite to eat and bike back to work..In the rain...He couldn't comprehend..

Jonahhobbes

New Zealand is quite temperate so I ride all weather, I'll wait for lightning to pass, take shelter somewhere. NZ's major drawback weather-wise is the wind, but I just take the LHT or the old MTB for steadiness if it's getting up to gale force.

swwhite

My low-budget studs won't stay up on ice, and I am not physically able go push through much snow (I have tried and failed). So I'm out. I also won't go if I'm injured.

Dark, pouring rain, cold down to -20F--I'm with you.