staehpj1

Regarding the comments on rain and whether it is miserable riding or camping...

Riding in the rain isn't really all that unpleasant unless it is torrential or unless it is cold and you aren't dressed for it. Lightning isn't a good thing to be riding in. Thunderstorms can be torrential and include lightning. The good news is that they also are generally somewhat brief and can be waited out. So the riding part to my way of thinking isn't really the bigger downside. If it is just a bit of rain riding in it isn't that bad. If it is a torrential thunderstorm maybe complete with lightning strikes, you can generally wait it out.

Camping in the rain... Camping can be a pretty sucky if you don't have your equipment and skills dialed in. If you wind up with wet gear (like your sleeping bag) or water dripping on you when you are trying to sleep it will be miserable. Is that likely to happen to a well prepared experienced camper with decent gear? No. Could it happen to an inexperienced camper with unproven gear? Sure.

Personally, I tend to stay in the tent later on rainy mornings reading or something if it is a hard rain, but I still have rolled out and ridden every morning on my tours no matter how hard it is was raining and never really minded the ride in the rain.

I only remember a couple times when the rain got pretty miserable on any of my tours and in both cases the wind was blowing hard and it was cold along with a hard rain. Both were in the middle of a long tour (coast to coast in both cases), so riding every day was a well established habit by then. In either of those two cases I'd still ride both times if I had those days to do over. I look back on them as character building experiences and just part of touring. On the other hand, if every day was like that I wouldn't tour.