Do you bike in bad weather?

[bdesj]

Originally Posted by atomicradish

I live in North Carolina, where we have mild winters, and muggy summers. I prefer riding in the fall, winter, and spring. Cold temperatures, even below freezing don't bother me so much, as long as I cover my hands and ears.

Yeah, most of this thread has been about cold and/or wet weather. Heat sucks just as bad and is harder to mitigate by wearing different clothes. I`m sure glad I don`t have to deal with hot and muggy summers in the southern US. Or dry but scorching summers in the SW, for that matter.

[Grant-53]

One reason I build fairings is that I won't have to work so hard and sweat so much.

[jtbo]

I don't like cycling at cold or snow, or even at the rain or if there is wind.

So I postpone cycling to see if next day is better, usually it is worse, so I have to cycle in bad weather then. I don't really have much other options, using car for local shop trip is not really sensible, it is only around 8km trip, so I use bicycle when visiting local shop.

Coldest I have used bicycle was -38C (-36.4F), riding down the hill at nearly 40kph was causing rather exotic sensations, especially forehead started to feel rather bad, despite having core tex wool hat thing (probably there is proper english word for that, but I'm not aware of such word), also I had to cover my face so that only eyes were visible, which btw did freeze open at downhill as water did run from eyes, but got frozen because of cold + windchill.
I have cycled on smooth ice which has water on top of it while it was raining really hard water so it was difficult to see anything, very cold and of course rather damp too, not even then I did slow down, I did go at full speed that my feet managed to give, thanks to Nokian 288 studs, insane grip in those.

So I do cycle in very bad weather, but I don't want to do that, also I don't like from it, but waiting good weather for couple of days without food is bit of forcing me to use my bicycle.

[Grant-53]

We have cases of frozen eyes in North America so ski goggles or such are welcome. I bought motorcycle helmet and a balacava hood. Vetter style hippo mitts go over the hand grips in a bike. These can be made from neoprene foam material.

[Grant-53]

Same for climbing Mt. Washington. There are warning signs for hikers to turn back at first sign of bad weather. What makes bicycle commuting possible is traction and low wind chill while exercising. Another reason for bike fairings is to keep drier.