Should I Ride Today? Flip A Coin…

Slicks and Ice

My Slicks and Ice really don’t like each other. I was considering Fritz’s idea about using the zip ties, but haven’t gotten the chance to work on it … yet.

I agree with kimbofo

“Most people have a general interest in the weather … when you become a cyclist you develop a more specific interest in all things meteorological, because the weather can make such a difference to your journey.”

She has a wonderful post that shows the difference between Metcheck’s cycling forecast and that of the BBC. I love that Metcheck has so many hobby specific forecast options. The cycling specific forecast tracks rain, UV, wind speed, direction and gusts and has a SweatIndex. I’m trying to find something similar that will give me that kind of detailed forecast for the Kansas City area but haven’t had much luck.

Having spent the majority of my adult life reading the forecast as part of my job, I can honestly say the next day’s forecast is really anyone’s guess. With all the computer models, they still don’t know. There was an old Bizarro comic that showed two angels standing aside as G*d was laughing at a TV screen showing the “5 day forecast” — one angel said “Don’t bother him, he’s watching his favorite sit-com.” Some months back I set up a spreadsheet that tracked the five day forecast for Weather.com, NOAA and the four major TV stations and found that the Weather.com came closest, followed by NOAA — but it was still a joke. I finally gave up on the long range stuff. I’m going to be keeping an eye on several sources today, as we have another blast of winter weather headed our way.

When trying to come up with an acurate hour by hour forecast, the TV stations do a better job; but they still tend to stick with details for temperature and precipitation/cloudiness. I’d love to see something along the lines of Metcheck here in the states.

What do you use to check the weather before you head out on your bike?

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