Seattle riding weather

[dstein]

Question for the Seattleites on here. I know the riding is great in and around Seattle. Well I don't 'know know', but I imagine it is, lots of various terrain and an endless supply of nature and picturesque landscapes. But how is the weather for year round riding? Contemplating a move in a year or two, possibly to Seattle since that is where my company is based out of and my job is supposed to be. I know it rains a lot. I hear the weather is shitty like 9 months out of the year. But I've been spending a lot of time there recently and it seems that while its constantly gray and cloudy, its usually not actually raining. Is this the case? Do you find that you can get out most weekends on a ride (I work banker hours and weekends are my riding time).

To put it in more context: I live in the Bay Area, and am spoiled by year round world class riding weather. Seriously, there are like 6-7 weekends a year when its raining, and when it does it rains it does so for a few weeks straight and I eventually end up suiting up in some rain proof garb and going for it, and usually end up hating every second of it, but hard to complain since it rains so seldom. I previously lived in Tennessee, where I was used to more inclemental weather, and I'd say there I averaged a good ride every other weekend throughout the year (more riding in the spring and fall, less in the cold, icy, winters and oppressively hot summers). 

[dstein]

To further clarify, I'm worried that there are 2 month or longer stretches where its so rainy that you can't fit any riding in. (I realize that this is subjective to most people who brave rain, snow, or sleet, but I am not one of them :)) In Tennessee I'd get pretty beat up by 2 months of no riding in December-February, worried it'd be like that but much, much longer.

[Mark Williams]

It sounds worse than it is. Our normal annual rainfall is 37" but we've had 38" since Dec1.
It's not really cold, as in Tennesee, but more wet and cool.
With the right equipment- fenders, reflectors, sealed bearings your bike will be fine. Layers, gloves, and booties and you will be fine. The bigger deal is having facilities at work to shower, hang dry your clothes and safely park your bike.
We have a great mass of commuters- enough so that autos pay notice to your existence.

[Deacon Patrick]

There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.

For grins I tested this out the other day, though not intentionally. I headed off without grabbing my ventile jacket. Oops. I think the temp was sunny and mid-30's. But boy-howdy was there a wind. The kind of wind that makes the ride steeper both ways -- steeper up the pass, steeper down the pass. My bones had goose pimples. On a whim, I decided to see what I had in my saddlebag. Ha! I'd not unpacked my single layer ventile. I donned it and was instantly out of the wind. Everything relaxed. It took a half mile of chugging up the pass some more to warm my bones back up, but I instantly felt better. I was no longer "braving" anything. I was out having a blast, getting blasted by 40+ mph winds, then turning around and letting those winds sail me down the dirt roads and paths in an amazing sensation of going 40ish mph (no computer, so no idea) without feeling any wind. Awesome!

Clothing matters. Attitude and choice that weather doesn't matter matters. Combine those two and everything else is kid-on-a-bike delight!

With abandon,

Patrick

~~~

[Kieran J]

This made me grin out loud. GOLzz.

KJ

[Steve D.]

I moved to Seattle from San Jose (Fresno North) in '03, and haven't looked back. What's great about living in the Pacific Northwest is the distinct change of seasons; you can feel the transitions from summer to autumn, winter to spring. The riding up in Seattle and its outlying suburbs/countryside is awesome. When I'm not working from home, I commute by bike, rain or shine. When it snows, I work from home.

What you're missing out on in the Bay Area is when spring hits, the days get longer. During the summer months, the sun doesn't go down until 9pm/10pm; lots of late night dinners on the patio after a long commute home.

Winter riding is about suiting up to stay dry on the rainy days, which are not as terrible as a lot of people think (ust don't tell any of your neighbors I told you that ;) ). Make sure you have good lighting if you're commuting to work in the winter months. As the days get longer in spring, lights won't matter as much unless you're riding at 5am. It's already getting lighter around 6am.

[David Stein]

Thanks All! My interest lies more in weekend riding, preferably without rain. A sprinkle is fine. But I find a steady rain just isn't worth it to me: poor visibility, slick roads, poor brake performance, etc. Commuting aside, trying to gauge if there are long stretches (weeks, months) where the rain is constant, or if it lets up here and there making it pretty easy to find a dry spell, if even for a few hours. Sounds like the latter (and thats what it seems like when I go there for work). It doesn't rain much in the bay area, but when it does i find it its pretty steady with almost no brake in the action, making it harder to get out. Tennessee was the same way for months on end in the winter, just really poor riding conditions.

The seattle summers sound pretty nice! I've been there and the sun going down at 10PM and the great weather make it pretty appealing.

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[Jim Bronson]

There are plenty of people in the Seattle Randonneuring group who make the R-12 (a 200K every month for a year) and K-Hound (10,000KM in a year) so it must not be that bad ;)

Actually I'm from western Oregon originally and had weather not so dissimilar to Seattle. I never really thought twice about riding in the rain when I was a kid because I didn't know any different.  I had a Schwinn Collegiate 12 speed with EGSE fenders, now known of course as SKS.  The only thing you had to be careful about was the brakes, they were highly ineffective when wet with the steel rims.  

Of course nowadays with machined aluminum sidewalls stopping power in the wet is a lot better.

The rain is different in the NW than in the South.  It's sunnier more in the South with more thunderstorms and torrential downpours.  Not so much in the NW, thunderstorms are relatively rare west of the Cascades.  In the NW, you'll get the same amount of rain in 100 days of drizzle.  You can handle the drizzle, man up and go ride.  Just stay home on the truly nasty days.

On Sun, Mar 6, 2016 at 8:38 PM, dstein <davec...@gmail.com> wrote:

Question for the Seattleites on here. I know the riding is great in and around Seattle. Well I don't 'know know', but I imagine it is, lots of various terrain and an endless supply of nature and picturesque landscapes. But how is the weather for year round riding? Contemplating a move in a year or two, possibly to Seattle since that is where my company is based out of and my job is supposed to be. I know it rains a lot. I hear the weather is shitty like 9 months out of the year. But I've been spending a lot of time there recently and it seems that while its constantly gray and cloudy, its usually not actually raining. Is this the case? Do you find that you can get out most weekends on a ride (I work banker hours and weekends are my riding time).

To put it in more context: I live in the Bay Area, and am spoiled by year round world class riding weather. Seriously, there are like 6-7 weekends a year when its raining, and when it does it rains it does so for a few weeks straight and I eventually end up suiting up in some rain proof garb and going for it, and usually end up hating every second of it, but hard to complain since it rains so seldom. I previously lived in Tennessee, where I was used to more inclemental weather, and I'd say there I averaged a good ride every other weekend throughout the year (more riding in the spring and fall, less in the cold, icy, winters and oppressively hot summers). 

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[Ryan Ray]

Don't listen to these people. Seattle is terrible.

- Extremely high rent/housing prices.

- Public transportation is woefully underfunded and though we are starting to get a little its far too late.

- It rains all the time. Forever. And its cold, gross rain. Its been shown to effect people's mood. Why do you want mood altering rain on purpose? It's real bad.

- Bike people here are awesome and you will easily have an instant group of people to hang out with and ride bikes. But the Seattle Freeze is real and people here (myself included) just are not very outgoing happy people. I blame the rain. You could live here for years and never make a true friend.

This place is really bad and I can't think of a reason anyone would want to move here. Some people will chime in with their personal experiences being slightly different but statistically the rain, the freeze, and the housing costs are all facts. If you could look outside my window right now you would think its 9:30pm. It's 9:30 AM.

Seattle is a great place if you like working on computers all day and playing video games inside all night.

- Ryan

[Jim Bronson]

Ha.  Austin is terrible too, now that you mention it.

Don't move here :D

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[David Stein]

Haha, i am legitimately worried about the endless gray skies in the pac nw. that could play into it as well, outside of bike riding. i have heard strong warnings about the freeze, it does seem very real. though i can't say the bay area is a whole lot different in that aspect at least from the 5 years I've been here (local rbw riders withstanding that rule of course!)

austin is a viable city with tons of job opportunities for me, spent a bit of time there, but probably not going to happen, all my friends just moved away from there.

DC or back to Tennessee is the other option if I were to move, those winters are pretty brutal but at least i know what i'm in for. DC can have more temperate summers, 'can' being the key word. but i remember getting pretty stir crazy in the winters.

worst case i say screw it and trade in all my bikes for a pirogue and some fishing gear and move back to my home town of new orleans.

[Tim]

You already know that you don't like riding in the rain so unless you want to try to change that, and you have a choice of where to live, maybe you should try somewhere else. I was working in the Northeast for the past 3 years and I decided to do PBP. That meant I rode in lots and lots of less than ideal cycling weather. Once I made up my mind it was a matter of suiting up and riding, no matter what. I don't like indoor riding so that was always a last resort. So I learned that I could ride in pretty much any weather, but I don't like it one little bit. If I could work and ride anywhere I think the Southwest might be the place. I guess what I'm saying is if cycling is important to you and you can live where you want, and hate the rain, maybe you should choose somewhere that it doesn't rain 200 days a year :)

[Patrick Moore]

Please don't move to Albuquerque; we want to keep the year-round riding to ourselves.

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Stat crux dum volvitur orbis. (The cross stands motionless while the world revolves.) Carthusian motto

It is we who change; He remains the same. Eckhart

Kinei hos eromenon. (It moves [all things] as the beloved.) Aristotle

[David Stein]

Well a lot of factors go into moving, cycling and being outdoors is just one piece of the puzzle. I guess my question, in its most simple form is: is Seattle a constant rain or more intermittent? I think I have my answer, which is its mostly a drizzle, with bouts of steady rain as well as breaks in the clouds, which is fine, and sounds like its fairly easy to fit in a weekend ride assuming I have some flexibility and am ok with at least a drizzle or risk of, summers sound amazing.

On Mon, Mar 7, 2016 at 10:50 AM, 'Tim' via RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

You already know that you don't like riding in the rain so unless you want to try to change that, and you have a choice of where to live, maybe you should try somewhere else. I was working in the Northeast for the past 3 years and I decided to do PBP. That meant I rode in lots and lots of less than ideal cycling weather. Once I made up my mind it was a matter of suiting up and riding, no matter what. I don't like indoor riding so that was always a last resort. So I learned that I could ride in pretty much any weather, but I don't like it one little bit. If I could work and ride anywhere I think the Southwest might be the place. I guess what I'm saying is if cycling is important to you and you can live where you want, and hate the rain, maybe you should choose somewhere that it doesn't rain 200 days a year :)

[rob markwardt]

I'd guess I get rained out maybe 1-2 times a year. I ride year round, everyday that work doesn't get in the way.  The rain is a bit of a pain at times but if you adjust it's doable.  Rain jacket, booties, waterproof gloves and fenders are a must.  Another must is patience and adaptability.  We seldom get big dumps but when they happen you can usually avoid them by looking at the radar.  Yesterday was a perfect example...big rain in the morning but I could see a window of a couple hours in the afternoon so I delayed my ride until then.  If you can't avoid the rain then you ride through it.  Usually not a big deal but  you do get colder much easier so if I'm not dressed appropriately then I go for shorter rides.  I find I can ride in a downpour for about an hour, through the drizzle for 2-3 hours, long / all day rides are saved for none rainy days.  Some of the hard core rando dudes will ride all day in the rain but it ain't me.  

[sameness]

It rained in LA this morning. If it can happen here, it can happen anywhere. Best to stay put.

Jeff Hagedorn
Los Angeles, CA USA

[RoadieRyan]

I have a friend and fellow Seattleite who is a pretty dedicated bicycle commuter, his moto is "I will ride in the rain, and I will ride in the dark, I will not ride in the rain and the dark"  which means he doesn't commute much from November to March.  I think Seattle, like most economically successful cites is a dichotomy - on the one hand Jobs are fairly plentiful, if you have the money there is lots of great culture (arts, dining, sports, outdoors) to enjoy on the other congestion, housing prices and the gap between haves and have not's sucks. As a native North-westerner and a Seattleite for the last quarter century I am biased lots of great places to ride, tons of scenic beauty and no better place to be on a lovely summer day but it can really suck when its February and it seems like its been raining non-stop for months...

Ryan S

On Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 6:38:28 PM UTC-8, dstein wrote:

[Ryan Ray]

Sante Fe is high on my list. Planning a trip there to scout it out.

[Patrick Moore]

There is a pretty consistent 5-10*F difference between Duke City and The City Different, which with the slightly greater precipitation (citywide average in ABQ is 9"/year, and this encompasses ~14"/yr in the foothills and ~5"/year in certain underprivileged parts of Rio Rancho) means that SF gets noticeably more ride-inhibiting snow than does ABQ, or at least, used to -- spring temps 30 days early this year, with all the ornamental trees breaking into white blossom clouds in the past week instead of at the end of the month.

I'll be interested in your impressions of SF. Are you retiring, or looking for new job, or sudden interest in New Age ...?

Patrick "but would like more snow in ABQ, to ride in" Moore

[Patrick Moore]

Aggghhh: Santa Fe averages 14"/year.

[David Stein]

On the  question: I'll be interested in your impressions of SF. Are you retiring, or looking for new job, or sudden interest in New Age ...?

I moved here 5 years ago and am not tied to the bay area. It's been fun, lots of great job opportunities (I've had 3!), fantastic weather, a 15 minute jaunt to Rivendell, but no extended family this side of the Mississippi and housing is very very expensive (prohibitively expensive, family is growing with a second kid coming this month).

Seattle is an option because my current job is technically supposed to be based there but I set it up so I worked in SF, so it'd be an easy to move and I'd probably get a relo package for it. DC and Nashville are runners up (family in both, could easily get a job in DC). 

I've actually never been to the Sothwest, heard great things about Santa Fe, will have to make it out there especially if I move back east at some point ;)

[shawn m.]

I'll second Ryan's take on Seattle. Seriously, if the bar is really " A sprinkle is fine. But I find a steady rain just isn't worth it to me: poor visibility, slick roads, poor brake performance, etc." Then, yes, there will be a lot of weekends when you won't feel like riding. Rain in the northwest, particularly in the winter, is the constant/steady type. Not super heavy, just relentless. Seattle is further north than you think, and the winters are seriously dark. I can handle the rain ok, but the darkness is what really gets to me. So far, most responses have been of the "wear the right clothes, grin and bear it" variety, but you're pretty specific in where you draw the line so I'd think long and hard about it. I'm not trying to scare you off, just being realistic based on what you've said isn't worth it for you. I ride mostly year round by necessity; I don't own a car, to my bike is the go-to. There are MANY days in the winter when the joy of riding can't overcome the misery of the moment for me. Also, 40F and 90% humidity in steady rain is a good recipe for hypothermia, so it's something you need to take care to manage. That said, I love it here (sometimes in spite of itself) and after 30 years I still can't imagine living anywhere else. Summers here can be so idyllic that I forgive and forget about winter... until about the first week in November...

On Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 6:38:28 PM UTC-8, dstein wrote:

[islaysteve]

Since you mention DC as a possibility, just want to say there are several list members who live here in the DC area, somr who commute by bike. If you want to discuss it, suggest you post a new thread, there are many pros and cons. Steve

[davec...@gmail.com]

Thanks Shawn, that is what I'm looking for. The summers are so nice and tempting, I've been there several times in the summer ;).

On the DC front, I've spent a lot of time there and have a pretty good idea what I'm in for. The winters there can be pretty brutal with several lost weekends, months even. However it ends in like March, whereas Seattle seems to last through June?

I guess the whole issue with Seattle is I'm under the impression that the rainy weather lasts 9 months out of the year, whereas everywhere else it seems limited to 3-4 months for winter (with some serious thunderstorms and torrential downpours throughout scattered throughout the rest of the year). Is that the case?

Thanks everyone for indulging me on this, this is seriously helpful as I need to start my argument on where to move now with my wife, let it simmer for a year or two, then make the jump!

[Andy Williams]

There are many reasons you would never want to live in a place like Seattle.   Here are some of my reasons why.

And, you might get wet!

A

[Garth]

  You can look up weather data and decide for yourself. While no statistic can give a total account of the weather for everyone , it is what it is  . 
You can look up any hour, day, month and year by calendar/history , and you can change the weather station and see it's history.

https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBFI/2016/3/8/MonthlyCalendar.html?req_city=Seattle&req_state=WA&reqdb.zip=98101&reqdb.magic=1&reqdb.wmo=99999#calendar
https://www.wunderground.com/us/wa/seattle/zmw:98101.1.99999

[Mark Williams]

During winter solstice there's less than 8 hours of light sunrise to sunset but if it's thick outside it's more like 6 hours of light!!!  I happen to love that time of the year- so cozy to sit by the fire with your best friend. The hard part of the year for me is February through July 15.  We've survived November through January darkness and you're ready for spring, right?  Although we can have some spectacular weather- especially for a week in May, but mostly it is just cold, gray and wet until July 15.  I've watched numerous Independence Day fireworks in a down parka with extra blankets around the ladies.

But July 16 through October there is no place on earth I'd rather be.  It's just hard to choose between salmon fishing/crabbing/shrimping, skiing the high country, hiking/camping and oh yeah, cycling or cycle camping, the music venues and the amazing restaurants.

The previous comments about density growth are true and driving a car here is horrible nowadays.  Within a month we're moving to a nearby island to escape the urban sprawl yet enjoy the beautiful Northwest.  At least it's sprawl and not decay.

[rob markwardt]

In reality Seattle's winter is about 2 days a year....many years it's zero.  I whine about the rain and darkness but "winter" here is a piece of cake. My last home was Havre, MT and Minnesota before that....I'll never whine about winter again...and I'll never move back!

On Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at 6:56:11 AM UTC-8, dstein wrote:

[Surlyprof]

Dave,

I can only speak to living in Portland for 3 years (prior to moving to the bay area).  I preferred life in Portland over the Bay Area.  The northwest had more character in my eyes.  Overall, I loved the independent vibe of the place which I didn't feel quite as much of in Seattle but I know it's there.  The high price of Bay Area living seems to be driving some of the quirkiness out.  Summers in the northwest were gorgeous with all the lush greenery because... it got watered about 8-9 months straight!  My neighbor called late-May to mid Sept. the "why the hell we live here months".  I used to ride or walk everywhere and just dressed for it.  Northwest Goretex-chic.  Despite the rain, I actually enjoyed outdoor living more there than in the bay area.  Here it seems to be quite a drive to get away to real wilderness (think the trudge to Tahoe).  In Seattle and Portland, the wilderness was a quick drive up the gorge, west to the shore or a ferry ride to the Olympic Peninsula.  My favorite backpacking and cycling spots were in the Olympic Peninsula.  Truly a beautiful place to explore.

Pros: The downtown areas are manageable sizes and full of interesting food, culture and independent businesses; outdoor living is outstanding (if you don't mind getting a little wet); anyplace is cheaper housing than the Bay Area.  If my wife and I hadn't bought during the bottom of the recession, we'd probably have to move to continue living as teachers.

Cons: The northwest doesn't have the 9-10 months of beautiful weather the Bay Area enjoys; Seattle traffic was pretty bad last time I was there; I never saw so many people paint rooms of their homes bright yellow or orange to help combat the dreariness of the gray skies.

... as for earthquakes... that's a toss-up.  There was an earthquake on Mt. Ranier when I lived up there!

John "seeking the pleasant wherever I end up" McClusky

[David Stein]

Portland is such an interesting proposition, I love it there the handful of times I've been, it reminds me a lot of Nashville but with functional things like public transportation and way more walkable and urban. Seattle is easy b/c i can take my job there, Portland and Austin are both kind of a tied for 5th place runner up as of now as I'd need to find a new job in both and there is no family in either. Both Seattle and Portland seem to be growing a ton. I feel like Portland will always keep a cooler smaller town vibe, but Seattle is just being taken over by tech jobs, like a mini Bay Area. I do like that in either its so much easier to get out of the city. Having the east bay hills and marin/mt tam area here is pretty awesome, but you're right that tahoe or yosemite or anything else can be a trudge. All great cycling areas (not to get too off topic of course).