Fair Weather Commuters, wutz your threshold?

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for the peeps that only ride to work when the weather is nice, what are your go/no-go points? meaning light, weather & temperature. I'm starting to get the itch & considering bringing back to the office, the stuff I brought home for lock-down last spring. things like trousers, socks, underwear, wash-up stuff & hair dryer

commuting traffic isn't as light as it has been, but I've seen bikers along my route, so I know I won't be alone. don't think they are commuters, just joy riders, but still, company is company. currently trying to figure out what my go/no-go points are. I know I don't want to deal w/ rain gear. but I don't need to wait for hot July weather either. I should take advantage of time off from the two night pr week, night job, before I have to start that up again
 

Milkfloat

An Peanut
Location
Midlands
I don’t ride in ice, we have so few days of it in a year that I don’t have an ice bike or even a wheelset setup. I am lucky in that I can walk or drive. However, my office is closing so I will be permanently working from home, so no commute.
 
I don’t ride in ice, we have so few days of it in a year that I don’t have an ice bike or even a wheelset setup. I am lucky in that I can walk or drive. However, my office is closing so I will be permanently working from home, so no commute.
oh that's sad. I was so happy when I started going back to the office after 4 months working from home. the office is dismal & we all stay locked in our offices, but there's some sense of normalcy
 

Genau

Senior Member
Location
London
For me it's never the temperature as such but the time of year. Yeah, I know they are connected. By December I'm looking for reasons not to do it and start missing more and more days and after the holidays the habit is gone. Once the light is back in March and I see lots of other people doing it I get shamed into starting again. I suppose that means my answer is light which isn't a very good reason in a well-lit city.

Having said that, I used to live in a snowier, frostier place and I rapidly came to the conclusion there that it was all about the temperature. Too many moments on ice for comfort.
 

rivers

How far can I go?
Location
Bristol
Ice and winds gusting over 35-40 mph. Those days I either take the bus, or if it's conducive to have the dog with me that day, the car (we only have one car, and the agreement is if I have the car, the dog also needs to come to work.).
 

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
It's 15 years since I retired, but I was a fair weather commuter. My go/no go point was could I get to work reasonably dry and also wind speed and direction. As home was 16 rising miles and NW of work, any kind of west or north west wind above 20mph meant a miserable and long ride home. I used to get in to work in just over the hour and home in under 1hr 30mins, more usually 1hr 20mins. A goodly NW wind could make my home run into 2+hrs.
 

Slick

Guru
I have yet to figure out exactly why, but up until this year my only no go was high winds. Temperatures never really fazed me and I commuted 2 or 3 days of the best days in any given week all year. This year was very different, I was recovering from a bit of an injury but that was just an excuse as it was the terrible weather that put me off and I hardly saw the bike all through January and into February. Things are improving, but so is the weather and I'm back to 2 or 3 of the best days of the week on the bike, but my base line now is, at least one trip must be dry, preferably the home trip. I just can't face 2 soakings a day anymore.
 

ren531

Über Member
Location
Lancaster uk
I have always commuted by bike and loved every minute but as I get older the joy on bad days is fading but I am scared that if I start giving in on those days it will be the thin edge of the wedge, but as mentioned above maybe I would be shamed back into it again , I have always greatly admired all year round motorcycle commuters ,that does take commitment in winter, at least we cyclist have an inbuilt heating system.
 

RoubaixCube

~Tribanese~
Location
London, UK
extreme conditions? I can handle a bit of wind and rain but if its much worse or conditions are icy then id catch the tube.

If rain is forecast for the entire week though then im more likely to leave the bike indoors to save on having to constantly clean it. I think we did have a september or november month a few years back when it was just torrential rain every day
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
It's 15 years since I retired, but I was a fair weather commuter. My go/no go point was could I get to work reasonably dry and also wind speed and direction. As home was 16 rising miles and NW of work, any kind of west or north west wind above 20mph meant a miserable and long ride home. I used to get in to work in just over the hour and home in under 1hr 30mins, more usually 1hr 20mins. A goodly NW wind could make my home run into 2+hrs.

Ooh...just like my commute. 13 upward
miles in a NW direction. That homeward leg could be horrid in the wind. Although working from home full time now, I secretly miss the punishment.
 

MrGrumpy

Huge Member
Location
Fly Fifer
for the peeps that only ride to work when the weather is nice, what are your go/no-go points? meaning light, weather & temperature. I'm starting to get the itch & considering bringing back to the office, the stuff I brought home for lock-down last spring. things like trousers, socks, underwear, wash-up stuff & hair dryer

commuting traffic isn't as light as it has been, but I've seen bikers along my route, so I know I won't be alone. don't think they are commuters, just joy riders, but still, company is company. currently trying to figure out what my go/no-go points are. I know I don't want to deal w/ rain gear. but I don't need to wait for hot July weather either. I should take advantage of time off from the two night pr week, night job, before I have to start that up again
Years ago nothing stopped me always made a point of cycling in even if getting the train part way due to bridge closures ( strong winds ) . However as I’ve got older I’m not as staunch when it comes to cycle commuting in all weathers. Ice , very strong winds I will back out and drive .
 

nealmo

Active Member
Im lucky in that i can vary my route to be or less off road so wind isnt so much an issue, the only days i have not cycled commuted or when weve had more than foot of snow but these are few and far between. Ice not so much of issue with a pair of spiked tyres have a bike specically setup for this.
 

gzoom

Über Member
but I don't need to wait for hot July weather either.

If you are commuting to work and aiming to be smelly like me (no shower at work), than the hot weather is not your friend!!

I wish the weather cold be like the last few days all year round. No need for lights, lovely chill at 8am to keep you cool on the way in, nice and warm for the way home + detour.

No better way to prepare for a day of work meetings than a lovely ride into work on the bike :smile:.

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