bmt074

This morning I got up and we had it all - strong winds, snow, sleet and rain at different points, and it was coming down hard. I submitted and took the bus into work. I would've been SOAKED by the time I got into work had I biked. Granted I probably don't have the appropriate gear for these conditions.

What does it take for you to leave the bike at home?

DataJunkie

Rain near freezing mainly.
That is simply a miserable ride for me and rarely happens. Why I would want to ride in it is beyond me.
Snow is fine. Warm rain is fine. Not near freezing.
I would have bailed as well.

xtrajack

It all depends on how I am feeling. Some times I do, some times I don't.

tjspiel

Four or more inches of snow that's been pushed around on the roads vs. plowed is my usual cutoff. I generally do more walking than riding when that happens. This morning was borderline but the strong winds and the forecast for them to get worse led me to leave the bike at home and jog to the train station.

I get a free pass for the train and today biking would have been a lot slower if not down right dangerous so it seemed silly to get on the bike. I'll miss my workout though and the ride home would have been fine.

vtjim

What?! That's like a nice summer ride right there!

Nah, the only thing that keeps me from riding is snow depth on the ground. It's a long story but if I can't use the MUP, I have to ride much further, and on bad-for-cycling-especially-in-bad-weather roads. I walk 2.5 miles to the bus instead. Gets me my exercise for the day.

Only time I regretted riding (sort of) was when a freezing cold (liquid) rain was falling through a strong headwind and I hadn't seen the rain coming in advance so I had no rain gear on. I got home very cold and very wet. Nothing a shower and some single malt couldn't cure.

ItsJustMe

The weather that stops me riding hasn't happened yet. This morning was raining and 33*F, and slush on the road that splashed up to soak through my shoes. It really wan't too bad. I do have a decent rain jacket and a rain cover for my helmet, but I have just regular pants, shoes and socks that are not at all waterproof. I just get wet.

It would definitely have been more comfortable if it was another 10 degrees colder, but whatever.

Occasionally the weather will be really junky AND i have someplace that I have to be at a specific time after work, and I might drive. If there's a bad headwind, sometimes it can add 15 minutes to my homebound commute and after that I usually just want to sit and warm up for a while, then take a nice shower.

DataJunkie

We don't get a lot of cold rains here. As a result I do not have the gear. I have ridden in 38F temps with wind, snow, hail, and rain. Took two days to warm up.
Investing in rain gear that rarely gets used is not a high priority for me.

CliftonGK1

+1
This morning it was 14°F for the 3rd day in a row. Treadmill, spin bike and my Zune in the warm gym seemed like a better option, especially since I need to catch up on some stuff around the house, too.
Like the extra hour of sleep I got this morning. Some days, I just don't feel all that hardcore.

Foofy

I still get out there and ride. I leave extra early though, and ride more cautiously.

tjspiel

Like DataJunkie said, it's depends on what "normal" is and what you have the gear for. In another month, 14 F will be be considered warm for my morning commute and I'm prepared to ride comfortably under those conditions so I do. The temp alone doesn't slow me down much or make it terribly dangerous. Bad roads can do both and that's more of a determining factor on whether I'll ride or not. I did see one guy ride his bike this morning, or more accurately, one guy pushing his bike.

Speaking of gear, studded tires, quality ski goggles, winter cycling boots - none of that is cheap. They are optional to a certain degree and there are cheaper solutions but if you rarely get snow and it doesn't drop below 0 very often, it doesn't make a lot sense to invest in those things.

phyko

I usually only not ride if it is freezing. I go over a lot of wooden bridges on my route, and they are scary slippery when it is freezing out.

bmt074

Oh yea you guys get much colder temps/much more snow than us . I actually stayed in Colchester for a weekend a bit over a month ago checking out the leaves/Lake Champlain. It's really nice up there.

I can't imagine year-round cycling in Northern VT!

ItsJustMe

Ugh. I used to work out on a treadmill and a spin bike. I can't imagine weather bad enough to be worse than that hell of boredom, and I've ridden in some pretty horrible weather.

Stryver

I'm a masochist. I'll complain about the nasty weather, but deep down, I like it.

PaulH

My bike can handle more demanding conditions than my car can and is less threatened by corrosive road salt. Snow and rain cause massive traffic tieups here; not good to be in a car.

Paul

asphalt junkie

I've hardly ridden the last two weeks. Some of it was family stuff that derailed me but the weather has been unbelievably cold (single-digit highs last couple days) with a lot of intermittent snow. No confidence in my tires for this kind of stuff, so I'm shopping for studded tires. Unfortunately they'll have to be delivered so I'm probably sidelined for another week. When the new tires arrive I'll take each day as it comes. Frigid, windy, snowy days I'll probably pass and wait a day or two for conditions to improve. Fortunately that typically happens around here. My goal until March is to try to average 3 days a week.

DataJunkie

It does suck but in my case it is about a given that I will use my trainer weekly this time of year.
The key is a targeted workout. When you are busy torturing yourself it becomes more tolerable than riding it aimlessly. It still stinks.

TwoShort

For me to leave the bike at home would take... walking. Which isn't preferable in any weather.

Rain is lame, but is rare here. With the right gear, snow is fun.

FredOak

Agree freezing rain is the worse, also if it's heavy enough I worry about the cagers being able to see me with their windshields icing over, in those conditions...telecommute..work form home

CCrew

I'd bail under the conditions you listed. Telecommute or metro.

gerv 

We had 14 inches of snow last night and a 50mph wind this morning. There was almost nothing moving. The whole city shut down.

envane

Ride in was nothing, ride back was the first real snow storm I rode in. That was a learning experience, and not without its fun, but I'd hesitate to do it again because of safety concerns.

bmt074

Great avatar Foofy - best game of all time.

bmt074

I heard about that- I think it's the same storm that Mass got nailed by today. Luckily it was too warm in Boston and it pretty much all turned to rain leaving no snow at all. Other parts of Mass got up to a foot.

SlimAgainSoon

No way.

Now, I'd love to ride to work in a nice snowfall. Don't get that here.

I don't even ride to work in the rain in the summer. No way I'd do it in the winter ... and I don't live in the winter wasteland some of you call home.