Stormy Cycling

My commute home is 40 miles door to door, and mainly runs alongside the main Edinburgh <> Glasgow railway.

I tend to look at my route on Headwind before committing; a wind from the East will be mainy headwind home. I'll then look at windspeed and estimated gust speed.
anything over 15mph constant and 25mph gust, I'll normally get the train.
[Although I do get caught out. Wednesday last week, wind from the east, constant speed of 18mph ... thought I'd give it a go. 6 miles in, it was horrific so I aborted and got the train. Turns out that was the right thing as gusts speeds exceeded 40mph.)

Rain doesn't worry me too much - depending on where I am.
I'm more likely to give up and get the train if I'm soaked before I've left Glasgow - especially this time of year. There is no fun riding 35-40 miles in the cold and dark, especially if you don't have to.

I have winter Marathons with studs ... great fun in the snow. Yet to try them on the commute and not sure I'd want to ride the full 40 miles on them ... they are noisy and not sure what 40miles of tarmac will do to them

Now I'm older and more risk averse I do check for winds. Tend to get a lot of SW wind and on an nsl road with lots of gaps in trees and hedges, it is too risky going north to south and back.

Usually see photos when there are floods of a brave cyclist going through floodwater.
Really stupid idea : apart from the sewage, you'll ruin your drivetrain and BB, you have no idea if you will hit a pothole, kerb, then there could be all sorts of debris coming towards you.

As others say - ice (no spiked tyres currently) and high winds unless I'm certain my route avoids avenues of trees.  (Strong winds don't agree with the recumbent at all and it's a designated fair weather bike anyway).  Learned that when out years back in a major storm and I got trapped as trees went down at both ends of a road.  Some people didn't make it home that day.  Even small branches (which might if you're lucky be deflected by a helmet) can have you off.

Heavy rain combined with dark reduces drivers visibility dramatically I try and avoid that.

I tried riding when it was icy ... wont do that again.

But a 60kmh tailwind in the right road is a strava boon. (For those of us interested in such things).

Heavy rain combined with dark reduces drivers visibility dramatically I try and avoid that.

I tried riding when it was icy ... wont do that again.

But a 60kmh tailwind in the right road is a strava boon. (For those of us interested in such things).

Heavy rain is grim. Ice rules out road cycling. Having said that, back in January there were some hard frosts and I had some lovely gravel rides on frozen tracks and trails.

Ice, strong wind and snow are each a no-no from me. An all too predictable crash on an icy morning had me off work for three months. So, now discretion gets the better part of cycling valour. Although the advent of weather app's have no doubt reduced the chances of being surprised getting caught out in bad weather is always a risk but I'm old now and both my cycling ego and wallet have adjusted to allow me the indulgence of indoor training.

I ride in about everything, but I've waited out the heaviest bits of lightning storms, or left earlier to avoid them. Tornados I wait out whether I'm cycling or driving. I've taken rides with people before when there's been unexpected harsh weather I wasn't prepared for, like cold rain with no gear.

I take the car if there is lightning forecast or if there's been a hard freeze on wet roads (this doesn't happen often enough for me to justify spiked tyres I think). Otherwise I cycle my 8 miles each way to and from work. I'll generally make excuses and promise myself I'll go later with weekend spin(s) if the weather is horrible and I haven't arranged to go with someone else

Pretty much attempt whatever the weather throws at me, just change the outfits a bit. I will adjust my speed to the conditions though.

As far as safety goes, if there are weather warnings in place then I would avoid cycling if possible.

I try to time my cycle rides to avoid rain, mostly because I don't like cleaning my bike (I have full mudguards but they don't catch everything). I'm less bothered about getting myself wet, so long as I can have a shower afterwards. But it's no fun if you have to sit in damp clothes.

I don't mind *light to moderate* wind or rain.  I don't like snow, but it has been years since we had enough snow or ice here in Bristol to actually cause a problem.

But I truly hate it when it is windy  For some reason, I have yet to encounter a tail wind - I have only ever encountered crosswinds and headwinds.

* Edited; I reread it and realised it didn't make sense as I'd originally written it

Schwalbe spiked Marathons work well on black ice, frosted roads and even on the wet-green-slime backroads. That's what they're designed for. The studs are steel jackets around TCT cores, which TCT is very hard so punctures the black ice and similar to get a grip. Don't be leaning at extreme angles around the black-iced corners, mind!

Also, when the grip of the studs gives you confidence, don't get all unaware when you get off the bike on to the ice, as your shoes will slip & skid immediately.

These tyres don't work in deeper snow, which needs something more like studs used on MTB tyres for very muddy conditions. But new snow isn't too slippy - it's the older and slushy stuff that'll get you.

******

Personally I avoid high winds and heavy rain, especially if the temperature is below about 8 degrees C. Wind can blow you off course or even drop a heavy or speedy thing on you. Heavy and cold rain will suck the heat out of you very quickly, especially if it's windy too.

Wind also creates lots of road detritus. Some of this is hazardous, especially bits of wet branch, which can slide you off when leaned over or even get picked up on a wheel and jammed in your stays or forks. The latter will give you a very rapid face-plant.

Some drivists also ignore weather conditions and drive far outside their safe speed and control abilities. If they see you late and brake heavily or rive at their steering wheel, the car might just slide into you anyway on wet and detritus-laden roads.

Deep snow is actually ok. Obviously not good on narrow road tyres, but CX/gravel/mtb tyres all work fine.

Ice on the other hand is a big red flag for me. I haven't tried spiked tyres which might be the solution (I don't think it's icy often enough to justify the purchase) although I have to say I'm also skeptical of their ability to deal with really thin black ice. 

I agree strong wind can definitely be a danger, especially when it's gusty. 

Other than that, I would be more concerned about enjoyment than safety - although if I think it's going to be really miserable, I might not cycle anyway.