There are so many distinct pleasures in weather variations when you’re Traveling at the Speed of Bike. You experience the fullness of being alive right down to your bones, and the joys of hot chocolate or an ice cream cone (yes, those more-than-90 days over 90 degrees Fahrenheit last summer are still indelibly imprinted on my mind) are multiplied after experiencing an extreme temperature. Plus, my hair gets very wavy in the rain, which I like.
Here I am in my new $21 rain poncho (which has grommets in case I need to rapidly convert it into a tent!), getting ready for the rains down in Africa. And here I am bundled up for the 32-degee-Fahrenheit ride to the park yesterday to walk with a friend also experiencing eldercare challenges (and frankly, I was too warm by the time I got there).
Bottom line? If you’re waiting for that perfect weather to ride your bike, you may be surprised how much you’re missing. (Note: it’s also far less crowded out there when the weather is “bad.”)
Re: that “share the road” sign (which, by the way, is no longer a “Best Practices” sign — they are being replaced by signs that say “Bike Riders May Use Full Lane”): Bike riders (and other light individual mobility users) have the legal right to take the full lane when the road is too narrow for safe passing by motor vehicle drivers or when there is debris or parked cars or other impediments to their safety making riding on the far right not practicable. To “share the road” means that as a motor vehicle driver you don’t bully, harass, close-follow or close-pass, or otherwise endanger bike riders making this legal, life-preserving choice. “Sharing the road” does not meant they ride in the gutter of failed infrastructure.
Traveling at the Speed of Bike 