Finally, the weather moderated yesterday and I got out to ride, for the first time in eight days. It felt good, although I could tell I had spent too much time off the bike. The ride seemed to require more effort from me.
There was no way I was going to miss another day, though. Last week was a total washout for me, with cold temperatures during the day, and several days of non-stop rain. Some of my friends reported via Facebook and Twitter that they had gotten out on the roads and put in some (or many) miles. But I couldn’t motivate myself to do so until the sun came out and the roads dried off.
Okay, I guess I’ve known all along that I’m just not enthusiastic about riding in lousy conditions. I’ve also decided that’s not a problem. We have decent enough weather most of the year that I can ride much more than many of my biking acquaintances farther north, so all I really have to do is sit tight for a few days (or in last week’s case, eight) and I’ll be able to get out there again.
So I’ve taken stock of my biking likes and dislikes. I’ll ride in temperatures as low as 40ºF (4ºC), although I don’t like it. I make it a point to avoid riding when it’s raining, or threatening rain, or if the roads are still wet from rain. I have faced the truth: I’m just a fair weather rider.
It looks like my mileage in January will be my lowest in months. On the bright side, this may also be nature’s way of telling me that I’ve been too wrapped up in biking, and it’s time to back off a bit. We’ll see.
Amen
I’m officially part of your “fair weather riding” posse. But I’ll tell you….one week off the bike sure beats the whole winter off the bike like was the case in Canada.
Darryl
I would be a fair weather rider but I fell and hit my head. 😀
If you go as low as 40ºF then you are a Texas winter rider, I would classify the fair weather winter rider as those that don’t go out when it’s below 60ºF, and I know quite a few of those here in Austin. Course a lot of them don’t go out when it’s over 100ºF either. And they have to time the wind just right too.
I don’t like to ride in the rain either, or when it’s below 45ºF. For me, it turns a ride from fun into a chore.
We have a 5AM Wake-Up group ride on Tuesdays/Thursdays. We don’t ride if the following conditions are present at the start of the ride:
– Fog
– Wet ground
– Rain
– Temperatures less than 40F
Anything else (20+ mph wind, 100+F, etc) is fair game 😀
I’m not liking the early morning dew that’s so prevalent around here. We have several metal-grate drawbridges around here, and they get really slippery. A little too thrilling with no bike lane and plenty of traffic!
I’ve been unable or unwilling to ride for 24 days now here in northern CO… I saw a cyclist last week-end approaching a major street from the right; he went down on the ice and, apparently not clipped in, separated from his bike, and both almost slid into oncoming auto traffic (me). Pretty exciting for both of us. Be careful out there, boys and girls!
I remember reading in the Fall that you intended to dial things back a bit to spend more quality time with the missus. It looks like you’ve succeeded, even if it was subconsciously!
As I recall, that “quality” time amounted to me doing more home maintenance chores. And yes, they are getting done better than they were during the summer.
I’m old enough still still do spring cleaning….but I do all that type of cleaning/chores now b/c the minute the weather turns for the warmer and the days get a tad longer …the house cleaning will get dropped like a dirty diaper!