‘Day without the bicycle’ follow-up: How to make 1/3 of Portland’s bikers vanish

rain always causes major traffic in Portland… it must be because it’s such a rare thing…

“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.”
― Bill Bowerman

No surprise that there’s a big drop in numbers of people riding when it rains. It’s generally less pleasant to ride in the rain, particularly if the temperature is cold. Rain calls for more gear for riding. And, the danger level for riding, increases with rain.

70 degrees and rain isn’t such a big deal, but when the temp drops to 50 and less with rain, it takes some very serious effort at enthusiasm to keep it fun. Much more comfortable relaxing, warm, dry, with the sound system going, in the car.

Most people, having never been in a crash or witnessed one, have no clue how fast things can go wrong. Slowing down when it rains is very prudent, especially the first 24 hours after a long dry spell as oils come to the surface of the street. Skid resistance (friction) also reduces when a lubricant like water is introduced between any two surfaces in contact. You might even say the basic rule covers this concept.

Part of the reason we went car free was to avoid the temptation to let the weather dictate our transportation choices. I can happily report that after a year of rain, ice and heat spells we have no regrets. Hint: an ebike helps too. Also if you ride in Portland and aren’t using Dark Sky or some other weather alert app you’re getting wetter than you need to.

When it rained recently I noticed the drop in bike traffic and my first thought was, “Come on, people, show some fortitude.” My second thought was, “Any transportation system that relies on user fortitude is a broken transportation system.” Upon further consideration this statement applies to most discussions about bike facilities, too.

Champs
I’ve ridden in weather you could describe as “dishwasher” or “ice planet Hoth” myself, and used a similar mantra: “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear.”
It’s only a mantra, though. You don’t have to take it literally. It is motivation, not an absolute.
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Totally agree on the gear. If you have [have = can afford] the right gear, it makes biking year-round that much easier. And, when I say “right gear,” I mean Showers Pass.

i would rather ride on a cool rainy day than on a hot day. the heat is really brutal on your body – sunburns, dehydration, you get extremely sweaty, etc.

Wow…I guess there is at least one more benefit of “Global Warming” other than local olive and palm trees in Portland… less rainy days and more bike commuters, for now. I wonder when the Corbert Report or Fox will pick up on the silver lining?

I can do cold, I can do rain, I even did snow. But my body just cannot do excess heat. Up to about 90 I’m ok, but go too far above that and I start to have health issues– mostly with my brain overheating, and then I make bad decisions.

So that means Monday, with 100 degrees forecasted, is right out as far as riding goes.

my favorite days are the rainy days, i get to ride the west bank esplanade by myself

There is no question that the amount of people on bikes goes down as the rain starts to fall. I do wonder, however, how much of that bridge count going down because people may decide to cancel any recreation riding that was planned and just go to the gym or skip exercise that day?

Admittedly, I have slowly had to get used to commuting in the rain. I never minded riding in the rain for shorter trips, but have just started to look at the forecasts better and really tend to only skip those days and take the bus when the forecast calls for a decent amount of rainfall. If I had a 4 mile commute downtown, it would not be an issue. But, doing 12 miles in heavy rain just gets to be a drag for me.