In Atlanta, winter weather can swing wildly from one extreme to the other. In February, especially, it’s not unusual for the temperature to spike into the 60s and 70s for a couple of days before retreating back to normal highs. Those swings have led me to formulate what I call the “70-degree rule.” If the temperature ever reaches 70 in any winter month, I drop whatever I’m doing (no matter how busy I am) and go for a ride. Today’s QoW is pegged to my 70-degree rule (which I invoked yesterday, BTW!). Obviously, this is going to vary by geography, but what’s your rule? Click to go to the Question of the Week page and vote. — J. M.
Do You Have a Winter Temperature Above Which You Ride, No Matter What?
Don’t forget: You can find the weekly poll both on the Home Page and in the 3rd column in the Talk to RBR section.
I live in northern Ohio and we have genuine winters here. Temperatures in the teens and single digits aren’t at all uncommon, and occasionally dip below 0 F. Before I retired, I rode to work and back throughout the year, 36 mi. round trip per day, I’m 75 now and I’m starting to wimp out a bit. Formerly my criteria were clear roads and at least 15 degrees F. Now I don’t ride if it’s less than 20 F, and I’m thinking about upping that a little. The two secrets to cold weather riding are 1. knowing how to dress, and 2. deciding how hard you want to work the motor.
Phoenix area riders are spoiled… We ride all year round, but NOT in the rain (doesn’t happen too much), excpt this winter… Temps below 40 degrees are out too…. haven’t cancelled a ride yet for that, Usually our rides in the winter are high 40’s at start to high 60’s towards end of ride…. now it is in the 50’s to 70’s….. Summer is hot, so we ride early, usually 6:30 a.m…If in the 90’s at the start, we dump water on ourselves, stop for cold drinks every hour, and finish rides before it gets much above 100 degrees. Time for cooling off in the pool!!! Yessss!