The Cold Choice

A few years back, I worked at a company whose parent corporation was based out of Washington, near the Oregon state line. I and a few other guys had a weekly teleconference with a salesman working in the main office. A coworker mentioned that I had ridden in that morning when it was 30ish degrees F. The salesman was shocked! He rode a sport tourer (I can't remember the model) and said he only rode his bike when it was above 50.

I'm not trying to call anyone out for not being tough, but if I limited myself to riding only in 50+ degrees, my riding season would go from short, to nearly nonexistent. I wish I had the luxury to do that. The other truth is that on many days, it's less than 40 at sunrise, but becomes a beautiful day later. 

I'm not trying to say that you should force yourself to ride if you don't want to, but look at it like something you'll be happy you did later. On cold mornings, the last thing I really want to do is leave my warm bed for the cold outside. I do it and usually enjoy my ride to work even if it is a little bone chilling. I definitely am grateful when it's 70 degrees when I leave work! My rule during riding season is that I ride unless it's raining in the morning (I could ride then too if I had a proper rain suit, which I'm too cheap to invest in). This of course is barring some out of the ordinary circumstance.

I wonder if I would ride my bike on cold mornings if I lived in a warmer climate. I want to say, f&$@ yeah I'd still ride! It's hard to tell without living there. Would I become complacent with the longer riding season? I think that I'd probably sell my car and force myself to ride no matter what. I used the word "force" again, like riding is something we don't want to do. But, let's face it, sometimes the things we enjoy doing doesn't put us on the easiest path.

I guess I'll end by asking, what's the coldest temperature that you ride in?

"Nothing burns like the cold." - George R.R. Martin