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of non-ideal conditions, what would you prefer?

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of non-ideal conditions, what would you prefer?

Old 06-27-19, 02:18 PM
  #1  
rumrunn6
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of non-ideal conditions, what would you prefer?

would you rather ride thru cold drizzle or hot sunshine? think I'd rather the cold & wet
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Old 06-27-19, 02:21 PM
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Steely Dan
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cold drizzle all day long.

i was not built for the heat.
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Old 06-27-19, 02:25 PM
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Hot sunshine.

No contest.

I can drink water and stay hydrated safely.

Nobody ever drowned in sweat. But people freeze to death all the time.
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Old 06-27-19, 02:25 PM
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depends on the wind
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Old 06-27-19, 04:28 PM
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Depends on how hot and how cold. lol. When the afternoon temperature climbs above 100 here in Texas I would prefer cold drizzle any time but as long as we talking up to low 90s I prefer the sun.
Plus drizzle impairs the visibility for me and the car drivers around me. So less chances to be overlooked in sunny weather vs wet weather.
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Old 06-27-19, 07:39 PM
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Depends entirely upon the humidity.

In my ideal world, the dewpoint would never surpass 32F. Sunshine, low 90s, low humidity, maybe with a bit of dust kicking around - love it!

Cold drizzle is undesirable due to the humidity, but after two summers on the Gulf Coast of Alabama, I promised to never complain about any variety of cold weather again. In keeping my promise, I'll take cold drizzle over humid heat. I'll also take very cold and dry over either.
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Old 06-27-19, 10:24 PM
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Cold and drizzle for me as well, as I am talking about 40 to 30 degrees cold, it is a lot easier to recover and get warmed up (a nice warm shower) after a long ride in 40 - 30 degree cold than cooling off and recovering from riding the same distance in 100 degree heat in the afternoon, I live in the dry high desert climate so as long as I am hydrated properly and sweating and moving through dry air, the evaporative cooling helps a lot; but as soon as I get off the bike at my destination, home, air moving around me stops, I start to heat up and feel uncomfortable, and so not as easy to recover and cool off quickly when I get home or to my destination
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Old 06-28-19, 06:16 AM
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Hot sunshine. As long as I find the right speed, I can balance exertion vs. cooling. Cold rain 1) hurts when it hits my face, 2) causes motor traffic to drive less ably and 3) forces me to decide to either get wet from or wear rain gear and get wet from sweat.
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Old 06-28-19, 07:04 AM
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Cold drizzle. I clean up a lot better from that than the heat.
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Old 06-28-19, 07:09 AM
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My commute is only 9 miles door-to-door. Neither one of those would phase me in the least. 40MPH winds? I might not like that.
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Old 06-28-19, 07:44 AM
  #11  
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If you’re talking summer drizzle vs summer hot, I’ll take drizzle.
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Old 06-28-19, 07:56 AM
  #12  
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Freezing (like literally 30F) and rainy is no good. 60F and up with some rain is fine. I don't even wear a rain jacket.
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Old 06-28-19, 08:14 AM
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i took the OP's "cold drizzle" to mean ~40 with drizzle.

i took the OP's "hot sunshine" to mean 90+ with blazing sun and lots of humidity, because that's the only kind of heat we get in chicago. we never get that dry heat like they do out west.

and as i stated before, between those two, give me the cold drizzle anytime.

high heat + high humidity = an unhappy me



if i lived out west with the dry heat and the sweat would actually evaporate off my skin when it's hot out, i might have a different opinion.
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Old 06-28-19, 08:31 AM
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Yes, I would prefer 40 and a little rainy to 90+ and humid.
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Old 06-28-19, 09:55 AM
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hot HOT hoooootttttttttt. I love heat.
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Old 06-28-19, 10:28 AM
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I live in Florida for a reason. I would take the heat and humidity over facing a cold drenching rain any day. I typically ride in 90+ weather with high humidity a lot of the year. But for me, the deciding factor would always be to avoid the lower visibility when riding in the rain.
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Old 06-28-19, 11:12 AM
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Originally Posted by Steely Dan
cold drizzle all day long.

i was not built for the heat.
I'm the opposite. I love long rides in the heat of the day (in Arizona) when I have the trails to myself.

110F in the shade and single digit humidity.....bliss!
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Old 06-28-19, 06:09 PM
  #18  
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Originally Posted by Skipjacks

Nobody ever drowned in sweat. But people freeze to death all the time.
I never heard of a commuter cyclist freezing to death.
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Old 06-28-19, 06:34 PM
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
would you rather ride thru cold drizzle or hot sunshine? think I'd rather the cold & wet
The OP needs numbers. Having lived in Portland, OR and PHX, AZ, and spent many years riding almost every work day, I've a lot of experience in both.

I'd take hot up to 100 over cold drizzle under 40ish.

Up to 108 over 33ish

If we're talking 55 degree drizzle, I'd take that over 85 and sunny.

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Old 06-28-19, 06:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Skipjacks
Hot sunshine.

No contest.

I can drink water and stay hydrated safely.

Nobody ever drowned in sweat. But people freeze to death all the time.
I think more people die from the heat than the cold. I could be wrong though.
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Old 06-28-19, 06:38 PM
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Looks like heat is worse in the US.

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Old 06-28-19, 06:48 PM
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Oh, and 25° is way better than 34°. Better to have a nice crusty snow and grippy ice than slush and wet ice.

This is premium commuting weather:



This, on the other hand...


Last edited by LesterOfPuppets; 06-28-19 at 06:53 PM.
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Old 06-28-19, 06:55 PM
  #23  
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I lived in Indiana, where "hot" means 90F and 90% humidity.
Then in west Texas, where "hot" means 115F, bone dry, and relentless skin cancer causing sunscreen defeating blazing heat stroke inducing killer sunshine.
Now in Portland OR where cold and rainy is common and typically 40F-60F with a light drizzle.

I'll take 40+ and drizzle 8 days a week.
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Old 06-28-19, 07:10 PM
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What about 35° drizzle with leaves? I'd take 108° over that.
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Old 06-28-19, 07:30 PM
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Warm, rain?

It is a valid point of how hot is hot.

Around here we have many 70 degree summer days, and a few 80 degree days. It rarely is above 100.

However, I could imagine everything is different for those forum members that regularly get 105 degree temperatures.

Humidity?

Anyway, I'm all for 70 or 80 degree dry, low humidity weather.
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