I’ve always said if I had a choice of two different conditions to ride, one being -15degF and dry or 35degF and raining, which would I pick. If the only criteria was the temperature, obviously I’d pick the warmer of the two. Add rain into the equation at the warmer temperature and there is no doubt. I’d pick the -15degF hands down.
Why? I can dress to stay warm at -15. No matter how you dress for 35 and raining, the longer you stay out the higher the chance the dampness and cold is going to penetrate whatever you wear. You are bound to get chilled at some point. It is the most miserable conditions to ride in.
I really wanted to get out for a ride today. Guess what kind of weather we were having? Thirty-five degrees and rain mixed with snow. I have a hard time getting motivated for a leisurely ride in this type of weather. After putting it off most of the afternoon, I finally got myself out the door about an hour before sunset. I kept it short, just over an hour. Just like a hundred times before. The conditions weren’t ideal, but I somehow enjoyed the ride.
Here’s a Cycliq Fly6 rearview of 10 minutes of the ride. You can see the cruddy road conditions. Muddy puddles you can’t see the bottom of, wetness and sand everywhere. This type of nasty road conditions is what we normally have tin the months of March and April. It’s a bit earlier this year. Conditions my belt drive commuter bike just laughs at. No cleaning necessary!
four season cycling 
I am with you, I would choose -15 over cold, messy rain. Of course, I do have to clean my bike so that tips the scale even more in favor of -15 weather! Loving your videos, it is fun to catch a glimpse of MN from the back of a bike 🙂
LikeLike
It’s a hard one to explain to people who don’t go out in the cold. It was a hard one for me to verbalize for many years. There’s not many weather conditions I don’t enjoy, cold rain is definitely an exception.
LikeLike
Yeah and it sad to see people ride on a cold rainy day and come back saying that they hate riding in the cold…but like we have experienced once the temp drops down below freezing it actually gets much better.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I ran that morning with plans to take the fat bike out for a ride in the afternoon. The rain kept me from getting out on the bike. Cold rain is my least favorite weather condition.
On a positive note the DWP was in excellent condition for running (biking) as was Mission Creek Parkway (where I hiked post run).
The pendulum has swung the other way and we are getting to ride in the cold! Last night I spent almost two hours out on the single-track playing, and at times wrestling, with the fat bike. Drifted snow made for interesting biking conditions.
LikeLike