Should I Really Ride in this Weather?

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As fall turns to winter and the days get shorter and colder we bikers are always looking for weather good enough to ride in. We each have some predefined temperatures and conditions that need to be meet before we ride. But as weeks go by and the weather doesn't let us ride we tend to relax our conditions take any chance we get to ride.

December has been colder and windier than normal and I have only been able to get out a couple of times. I don't go out if the temperature is below 35 degrees especially if it is windy. This pass weekend right after Christmas we had a couple of days with record warmth so it was a no brainer to go out this past Sunday when the temperature was 65. Yes the roads were wet and there was a steady 15mph wind gusting to 25 but you don't get many 65 degree days in the winter so deal with the wet and the wind and enjoy a warm ride.

This pass Tuesday was a much harder decision. I was off from work and it was 40 degrees and sunny this usually means I'm going for a ride. The problem was the wind. The long range forecast had the winds between 10 and 15mph but on Tuesday the winds turn out being forecast to be 20 to 25 mph with gust to 40mph. The people that were going to join me on the ride starting dropping out and questioning if going for a ride was really a good idea. They were right of course riding in this kind of wind is stupid but I went any way mostly because I would rather ride in this wind than sit at home on a sunny day and regret not riding.

Luckily Mike B was stupid enough to join me. Chris and Mike M bailed and did some wet mountain biking instead. So as Mike said there were three of us on the ride (Me, Mike and the WIND). We ended up going to the canal and back. The wind was bad but manageable. Our speed was slow but it ended up being a steady wind and the gusts weren't too bad. The worst part was just getting the boat house. Even on a good day riding into the park from Old Trenton Road requires going through that bizarre wind vortex on park road heading to the boat house. Today the vortex almost blew me off the road a few times.

I ended up with just over 50 miles and was really tired at the end. We got some tail winds at the end of the ride but it really didn't feel that good. I don't regret going out in these conditions but I accept the fact that it really wasn't the smartest decision that I have made. This had made me realized, again, that I am addicted to biking and will go against logic and reason in order to get my fix of riding.