Fair Weather
It’s almost winter. The weather has been changing and there have been some pretty rainy days. While the weather’s gross and I have other transportation options, I still end up on my bike.
I’ve been told I’m weird, but it’s all relative. Everybody’s bad weather commute has an element of the ridiculous.
And while I don’t really like being out in the elements it still makes the most sense to me. After all, rain is just water and a bike is just the quickest way through the mess. All weather is fair weather if you have a good raincoat.
I believe the often quoted comment is, ‘there’s no bad weather just bad clothes.’ The more you ride the plainer your post today is to see… Thanks Bikeyface! You’ve done it again!
Tell that to Hurricane Sandy survivors. I’m sure an extra layer of raincoat and scuba diving gear would solve all of their problems.
FWIW, I commuted on my bike (and ran some necessary errands as well) even as Sandy roared through my community. No form of transportation can mitigate the damage of an event like this, but that misses the point – in a less draconian storm, a bike is still a highly effective transportation tool if used with planning and intelligence.
Actually, it was the bicycle riders that were the LEAST affected after hurricane SANDY, when car traffic and gas rationing and subway woes were disrupting almost everyone else! People were pulling their unused bikes out of the garage and basement and finding out that OMG! bicycling is EFFICIENT!
I moved to New York in August and it’s true that as a cyclist I was the first person in my Manhattan workplace based in Brooklyn to make it into the office after the storm. I have, however, moved to New York from London and, while I took a very robust view in London of what weather was suitable for cycling, I am mildly concerned about whether I’m going to be able to ride every day in the winter as I used to in London. I blogged about the whole issue here: http://invisiblevisibleman.blogspot.com/2012/11/whatever-weather-cyclings-proved-post.html
Very relatable!
Very true! I’d rather bike in the rain than wait for a bus any day.
I have found that I get even more “return on investment” bicycling in rainy weather. My commute is exactly the same length, whereas the motorized communte will definitely get longer.
I just need an extra minute or two to put on and take off the rain clothes.
Plus, one of the reasons God made rain was for us to get a little wet occasionally.
I love riding whenever I can, but wet roads are not always safe when going downhill here in San Fran. I never trust the car drivers to see me or to act responsibly and my brakes are not as effective. A few too many close calls and I am now a weather wimp when i have steep hills to go down. When I do ride in the rain, I usually end up soaking wet with dry clothes waiting in my desk.
Drum brakes, disk brakes. I got them pretty much for exactly that reason.
@Geoff: May not be an option for you right now, but disc brakes and wide tires have solved the stopping-in-wet-weather problem for me. I ride a Salsa Vaya, but discs are available on tons of bikes these days.