How Cold and Wet Does It Have To Be Before you Cancel A Bike Ride?



SierraSlim

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Oct 4, 2010
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[COLOR= #0000ff]Hey, Y'all![/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]I got my first bike ride in the rain a couple days ago. It wasn't raining when I STARTED, mind you, but I knew it could; it was cloudy and windy and gray and gloomy and just plain ugly outside. I was hoping the actual rain would wait until after I finished my ride, lol. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]It didn't. But even before it started raining, I was so cold and miserable I was ready to quit, and did quit at only 7 miles, which is pretty minimal for me. So I got really cold and fairly damp -- and now I'm coming down with a nasty cold that really has nothing to do with the weather, but I wanted to complain about it, lol. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]It was about 60 degrees that day, and I was surprised at how cold it felt, even though I also felt hot from the exertion. I don't have real cycling clothes yet, other than a pair of capris, so I had on a 3/4 sleeve T-shirt and a nylon parka with hoodie (and probably looked like a doofus, but it's what I had to work with). [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]So I wondered... Is there a temperature/weather you won't ride in? I won't be riding in rain, even if I didn't hate it, because my glasses get wet and I can't see a darned thing. But if it hadn't been cloudy and humid and windy, I don't think the 60 degrees would have been bad at all.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]How bout you? What's your limit?[/COLOR]
 
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You might want to check the weather radar for your area since you'll be able to see if the rain is likely to get you.

32 F with no snow and ice on the road.

60 F is balmy.

I don't ride if it's raining or if the weather radar shows rain is imminent.
 
The only way I get wet is by accident but I can ride in the cold. That doesn't mean Iike it.
 
[COLOR= #0000ff]Hey, y'all![/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff] [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #0000ff] [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #0000ff] [/COLOR] [COLOR= #000000]You might want to check the weather radar for your area since you'll be able to see if the rain is likely to get you.[/COLOR] -- I HAD checked the weather radar, Jimbo, and it said it wouldn't rain for a couple hours yet. They were wrong, LOL. And I think I'd have DIED at 32 degrees.
[COLOR= #0000ff] [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #0000ff]And Huskey, I didn't like it either, lol. At least I can say I didn't know better, havng never ridden at that temperature before. I had assumed getting warm from exertion would keep me from feeling the cold. It didn't -- though as I said, I think on a sunny day it might have been a totally different story. Oh well. I survived. [/COLOR]
 
When I bicycle-commuted, my limit was -20F. At zero and below, I don't stay out long - a 12 mile ride would be a long one in that weather. I avoid going out on ice, though; mostly because of cars.
 
Slim, if you stick with it and as time goes perhaps your gear/clothing will improve. I started with the cheapest gear at first but over the years I have refined all of it. My best winter bike clothing I can tolerate temperatures into the low 20 + degree range wet or dry and I know for those northern folk there is even better clothing than what I have.
 
[COLOR= #0000ff]Hi, you two! [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Welcome to Sierraslim's world of weird questions, lol.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Pedals, I can't BELIEVE you went out biking at anywhere even close to -20! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif I was in that kind of cold in South Dakota once, and the hair in my nose froze so solid that when I sneezed, it all broke off. Absolutely true! And for the next few months I HAD no nose hair, which it turns out is very important to keep out things that you shouldn't inhale or that would make you sneeze, and I spent 6 weeks sneezing about every 3 minutes. It was MISERABLE! You're a hardier cyclist than I am.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]And FeltRider, I know you're right, and eventually I'll have the proper gear and clothing. Right now I'm new enough to be STUNNED at how expensive cycling clothes are -- and being plus size, they stick it to you even further. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/mad.gif But I may have to loosen Frugal Hubby's cash-holding fingers sooner than I had anticipated, because I need to be out riding at least 5-6 days a week, and as unhappy as I was on that bike ride, I need my jerseys and whatever NOW. Being a person who likes simple, elegant designs, I am also surprised at how UGLY most of the designs on the clothing are, which makes it harder to want to spend any of my hard-earned money on them, lol. I will probably be wearing all solid-colored jerseys, if what I've seen so far are any indication. But on that bike ride, I'd have worn picnic-and-cowpoke green and purple Jed Clampett clothing if I'd had it, to stay more comfortable. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Thanks for joining my discussion. I love learning what cyclists really do, think, and feel about things.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Happy Pedaling![/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Sierra[/COLOR]
 
Slim, sixty is my limit, it just hurts, for days!

I have a shirt I got at Academy Sports that is water proof and for the most part wind proof. It is light and yellow for safety.
It was less than twenty dollars. I picked up some jersey gloves at the Dollar store with beaded palms, two pairs for two dollars.
They work very well at sixty`. They don't interfere with braking or shifting and have a good gripping surface. They also store
in the bag in a small space. The shirt rolls up in a small bundle as well. It is a fishing shirt by Magellan BTW. Velcro pockets
and a water proof liner for one pocket.
 
[COLOR= #0000ff]BH,[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]No wonder you've got twenty million -- you know how to SHOP, lol! [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Thanks for the tips; I'll definitely be looking for something that wicks away sweat without giving Frugal Hubby a transient ischemic attack. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif[/COLOR]
 
It doesn't have to get very cold in the Fall for me not to ride. Once the temp drops into the 40's, I'm pretty much done.

But in the Spring, after the temp has been below freezing for several months, mid 40's temps feel down right balmy and I'll start riding again.

Although we've had a really nice October, it's supposed to turn cold and we're supposed to have our first snow this week, so I'm probably done riding until next Spring.
 
[COLOR= #0000ff]Man, Paramount, I just noticed what town you live in. What an appropriate name for this particular thread, lol. I lived for 5 years in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and distinctly remember one January where it never got UP to zero degrees. After 5 years of that, I told him....[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]"You can come with us, or you can write. I'm out of here." Fortunately for me, he chose to come, lol. I canNOT handle bitter cold. Hubby is tight with you on what he'll bike in; 40 degrees is about his limit, too. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Enjoy the snow. It's beautiful... but only if I can watch it from beside a fireplace, sipping hot cocoa and Kahlua. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Happy Pedaling -- er, snow-shoveling! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/frown.gif[/COLOR]
 
Originally Posted by SierraSlim .

[COLOR= #0000ff]Hey, y'all![/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff] [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #0000ff] [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #0000ff] [/COLOR] [COLOR= #000000]You might want to check the weather radar for your area since you'll be able to see if the rain is likely to get you.[/COLOR] -- I HAD checked the weather radar, Jimbo, and it said it wouldn't rain for a couple hours yet. They were wrong, LOL. And I think I'd have DIED at 32 degrees.
[COLOR= #0000ff] [/COLOR]
[COLOR= #0000ff]And Huskey, I didn't like it either, lol. At least I can say I didn't know better, havng never ridden at that temperature before. I had assumed getting warm from exertion would keep me from feeling the cold. It didn't -- though as I said, I think on a sunny day it might have been a totally different story. Oh well. I survived. [/COLOR]
Well the thing is....if you check the animated weather radar you can decide for yourself without relying on what the latest weather guess is.
 
I won't go outdoors to ride below 50 degrees F. I've had ride induced hypothermia once and I don't want to do it again. I also won't go out if rain is predicted and it shows on the weather radar. When I want to ride and Mother Nature won't cooperate, I just pull my rollers out from under the bed and away I go......nowhere. I'll usually just put on a movie while I pedal. I've also got variable resistance so I can make it a little less monotonous.

Like 64 Paramount though, after riding the rollers for several months, I will occasionally venture out on the 40 degree days with no wind or snow, bundled up to the point where I am about to start sweating.
 
Originally Posted by 64Paramount .

It doesn't have to get very cold in the Fall for me not to ride. Once the temp drops into the 40's, I'm pretty much done.

But in the Spring, after the temp has been below freezing for several months, mid 40's temps feel down right balmy and I'll start riding again.

Although we've had a really nice October, it's supposed to turn cold and we're supposed to have our first snow this week, so I'm probably done riding until next Spring.

Although I ride during the cold dark days of Winter I have to agree that it is a lot easier to handle the temps on the Spring side of Winter than the Fall.
 
Originally Posted by SierraSlim .

[COLOR= #0000ff]Hey, Y'all![/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]I got my first bike ride in the rain a couple days ago. It wasn't raining when I STARTED, mind you, but I knew it could; it was cloudy and windy and gray and gloomy and just plain ugly outside. I was hoping the actual rain would wait until after I finished my ride, lol. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]It didn't. But even before it started raining, I was so cold and miserable I was ready to quit, and did quit at only 7 miles, which is pretty minimal for me. So I got really cold and fairly damp -- and now I'm coming down with a nasty cold that really has nothing to do with the weather, but I wanted to complain about it, lol. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]It was about 60 degrees that day, and I was surprised at how cold it felt, even though I also felt hot from the exertion. I don't have real cycling clothes yet, other than a pair of capris, so I had on a 3/4 sleeve T-shirt and a nylon parka with hoodie (and probably looked like a doofus, but it's what I had to work with). [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]So I wondered... Is there a temperature/weather you won't ride in? I won't be riding in rain, even if I didn't hate it, because my glasses get wet and I can't see a darned thing. But if it hadn't been cloudy and humid and windy, I don't think the 60 degrees would have been bad at all.[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]How bout you? What's your limit?[/COLOR]

How's this for a fun ride. 10/16 I set out at 7 am to go to my grandaughters soccer game. 18 miles 38 degrees. During the game a warm front made its way in and the winds picked up to gust of 40 miles an hour. My return trip home was 27 miles in 45 degree heat fighting the wind from all angles. I stopped once on the way home to take some pictures of people harvesting some cranberry bogs they were thigh high in water. This made me feel warm and cozy with my goretech wind stopper jacket and tights. Anyways whats my limit? 15 degrees as long as the roads are clear and there is no chance of snow. I ocassionally will ride in the rain but have been injured from crashing during a rain storm the developed while I was out riding. I did not have rain gear and was hurrying home. In New England you need to keep a good eye on the weather conditions. The weather and conditions around here are all part of the challenge.
 
I can handle the low 40's, but when it comes to rain I am like a cat. I hate getting wet.
 
Rain... As long as I can see where my rims are going then it's all good. Falling off due to hitting potholes in a flooded section of road = not fun. Did that game of dumsas$ roullette years ago in a race and won't be doing it again in training. This past weekends "storms" (and I have to laugh when they call weather like this a "storm" - come on people, it was an inch or three of rain and a bit of a breeze) brought flooded shoes and a couple of required stops out in the middle of nowhere due to fogged up/rained up glasses but it was all good. A couple of 2.5 to 3 hour rides, well wrapped up with the newspaper down the front too keep the windchill off the chest and it made for an interesting, fairly traffic free, ride.

Must get some mudguards (fenders?) on the winter bike too as most of the soaking my feet and back got were from the bike. Function > Fashion.

Cold... I used to go out until it was a few degrees below freezing but since the ol' lungs seem a bit more susceptable to both allergies and really cold air I'm not really sure how cold it needs to be before the weekend rides are done indoors. Low 30's I'm guessing.
 
Originally Posted by SierraSlim .

[COLOR= #0000ff]Man, Paramount, I just noticed what town you live in. What an appropriate name for this particular thread, lol. I lived for 5 years in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and distinctly remember one January where it never got UP to zero degrees. After 5 years of that, I told him....[/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]"You can come with us, or you can write. I'm out of here." Fortunately for me, he chose to come, lol. I canNOT handle bitter cold. Hubby is tight with you on what he'll bike in; 40 degrees is about his limit, too. [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Enjoy the snow. It's beautiful... but only if I can watch it from beside a fireplace, sipping hot cocoa and Kahlua. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif [/COLOR]

[COLOR= #0000ff]Happy Pedaling -- er, snow-shoveling! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/frown.gif[/COLOR]

Sierra, Sioux Falls really has some extreme weather...so I know what you're taking about. It's actually just a bit more South than where I live in the Twin Cities, but Sioux Falls often has colder temps than we do.

And it's hotter in the Summer there too...

I really don't mind the cold too much, but I don't have to work outside in it! I drive from our heated garage at home to the heated garage at work. About the most I do outside in the Winter is snow blow the driveways, the rest of the time I spend on in-door activities.
 
Originally Posted by BHOFM .


Isn't that where Rocky and Bullwinkle live??


Yes, it is!

You're the first person to mention that. I just used that because I used to love watching Rocky & Bullwinkle when I was a kid.... /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

I actually live in a Twin Cities suburb just one block east of the St. Paul city limits.