JLDickmon

Summer (90 degree heat, high humidity) held on a LONG time here on the 42nd parallel..
now that it's cooled off enough to entice me to ride after work, the sun is gone by the time I get home..

So.. as soon as it hits 50 degrees, I can load up the wife and the bikes and head to the Rec Area..

but it's also getting to be kinda wet and rainy..

this sucks, Beavis..

Carbonfiberboy 

Resistance rollers: https://www.sportcrafters.com/produc...ve-pro-rollers
My wife won't ride 'em, so trainer for her. We can ride together just fine, music as loud as we want. I ride year 'round, though in winter outside only 1 day/week, rest of the days indoors. We keep our workout area ~55° and use 2 - 24" box fans. Heckuva lot better than not riding.

BlazingPedals

Sounds similar to me. I ride with lights or on weekends. I can't handle riding indoors.

canklecat

We don't really have a season here in Texas. So we ride whenever the weather is halfway decent, which is pretty much year round. Even in winter we'll have days when it's in the 20s one day and 60s the next. Only reason I haven't ridden the past few days when it's rained steadily is because I don't trust drivers.

I didn't expect to get much use from a Cyclops trainer a friend gave me, but after an injury earlier this year followed by an unrelated illness, I ended up doing more indoor spinning than outdoor riding. And it really was pretty good. Kept me in good enough shape that my average speed is the same. My stamina is down a bit, but that's due to illness, not lack of conditioning.

For me the trick to enjoying the indoor trainer is to skip the stuff that just makes me with I was outdoors. I tried a couple of training videos from GCN's YouTube channel. But it was boring.

So I switched to binge-watching TV series I'd been meaning to watch anyway. I watched all five seasons of Orphan Black (a delightfully weird sci-fi series that has more in common with David Lynch and the Coen brothers style than with sci-fi), basing my workouts on the approximately 40-minute episodes: one episode for HIIT or FTP training; two or more episodes for endurance training. I set Wahoo Fitness on my phone to give me audible notices every 3 or 5 minutes, my cue to either sprint at maximum effort for 15-30 seconds, or to stand and pedal for 60-90 seconds to improve my climbing strength.

Works for me. I don't get bored with the indoor trainer. Only problem now is I'm out of Orphan Black episodes and the next series I'm watching now, Expanse, isn't quite as compelling. Not bad, but a bit too thick on the familiar tropes.

The indoor trainer has also been useful for warmups before an outdoor ride. Between the injury and illness this summer it was taking me longer to warm up, and that was harder during our recent hot summer. I found the transition easier if I warmed up indoors for 15-30 minutes before heading outdoors.

caloso

Wileyrat

Tomorrow's high is only supposed to be 91. I think tomorrow will be my first after work ride since it got hot enough to melt a CF bike in the afternoon a few months ago.

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fietsbob

Rain happens .. it's that season again.. I have panniers on my daily use bike,
rain gear in them for the changing weather..

hub dynamo powered LED lights for the darkness ..





...

aspalmat

From Michigan as well. My way to deal with the earlier sunset is to get kitted out with good lights. I've got a set of front and rear "blinkies", and a 1000 Lumen front light, and a Garmin RTL510 rear radar/light. So 2 front light and 2 rear lights. I've pulled in the driveway around the 8:00 range when it's starting to get pretty dark, and I feel pretty comfortable. I can see just fine, and pretty sure people can see me. I'm going to ride outside as long as I possibly can before it gets colder than what I can tolerate

Hondo Gravel

dennis336

Yeah, the weather here in Connecticut seems to have been more extreme this past year. Temps went into the single digits starting in December, if I recall, with snow well into March. Then, summer had more extreme heat and humidity that usual. Through it all, I found a way to get out on my bike pretty consistently, although I did pull out my indoor trainer several times during the worst of the cold days of winter. I'm fortunate to work at home with a flexible schedule so I can usually squeeze in rides on work days even in the shortest winter days.

talphie

rumrunn6

nawww, it's crud season! keep riding! get tough!

Wildwood 

Here in western Washington the forecast calls for partly sunny and high around 70 Monday thru Friday.
Time to ride before our rain sets in.

JLDickmon

Our rain started yesterday afternoon.. steady mist/drizzle spiced with pockets of showers.. mist/drizzle/showers/thundershowers today and the next couple.. then back to the mist/drizzle until middle of next week..

Colnago Mixte

I used to ride in the eternal drizzle when I lived in Portland. Loved it. Perfect riding weather IMO, impossible to overheat, but you get a just a slight bead of perspiration going. Optimal riding conditions for my metabolism.

JLDickmon

Good points, all. I pulled the lights off my Talus because I had it for sale.. offered it to my grand-nephew for a college bike, but he never got back to me..
Maybe I'll put them back on and start beating it up & down the trailway

rando_couche

Fenders!

jlaw

I agree - Fenders!

I got my first bike with fenders a couple years ago (Spec. AWOL) and it really caused me to ride more. In marginal conditions I know I'm not going to get a stripe up my back and my bike will stay free of road grime. These sound like minor concerns, but fenders take most of the hassle out of riding on wet roads and/or showery conditions.

I now have two bikes with fenders and as long as it's not pouring or below 30* I don't get too concerned about the weather - definitely more seat time.

A good long sleeve merino wool/stretchy polyester shirt that fits snugly is also a big help when it is cool out. And, a decent bag (handlebar or pannier) means that I can conveniently bring food/water/clothes. I have an Ortlieb 6 handlebar bag on one bike and Ortlieb low-rider roll-down panniers on another. It's good to be ready for changing conditions- or a stop at the grocery store.

Jim from Boston

well, crud.. this is gonna end my season..+10. Only commuting (with the attendant fitness) is about the only motivation for riding outside of the usual pleasant riding season here in Boston. It is particularly important for me this year, as I recently posted to this Fifty-Plus thread, “Your end of season report....."

McBTC

Colder than normal conditions this 2018-19 winter according Farmer's Almanac-- tempestuous, ferocious... better take up snowboarding.

Hondo Gravel

Flip Flop Rider

may be a dumb question: bike computer, lights, ipod are all ok getting wet?

I generally avoid rain riding, thanks

jlaw

Bring a couple small zip lock bags - either stow the devices in the bag in your pocket or slip the bag over the device and ride on.

Cougrrcj

I was just talking to the Wife about this topic a few minutes ago. I told her that I wanted to set up my old-school rollers in the living room this winter - and she agreed! We took the old furniture out a year ago except for a roll-top desk in the corner. I'll probably have a box fan in addition to the add-on wind-resistance squirrel-cage fan.

FWIW, I started riding rollers in '76 while at Ohio State. Learning to ride them REALLY improved my pedaling technique! I found myself riding farther with less effort - all due to NOT wasting energy in a sloppy technique!

I bought my rollers some 30 years ago from Nashbar. Back then, their rollers had optional accessories like a fork stand (so my wife could try it) as well as optional wind-resistance or fluid-resistance add-on units.

JLDickmon

and since I wrote the OP, it's rained all but two days..