Ohio riding season?

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hordak · #1 Unread post by **hordak** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 4:21 am

Wrong section I know but it seems to be the only section that is active.
When does the Ohio riding season start? Moving there soon and want to know how long my bike will have to sit in the garage while i make motorcycle noises to ease the pain?

Johnj · #2 Unread post by **Johnj** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 6:10 am

Depends on you. I know people that will get the bike out if the roads are clear whatever the temperature is. I also know people that won't go riding unless the temperature is over 50°F or 60°F.

For me mid December to mid March.

gsJack · #3 Unread post by **gsJack** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 6:12 am

That depends on the rider and to some extent on the bike they ride and most of all to how badly you want to ride.

I rode yesterday and expect to get out again today and tomorrow.

I ride year round here in NE Ohio but there are not a lot of others that do. I don't go out if the streets are slippery with ice or snow but I do ride in a lot of salt water. I buy inexpensive bikes that I put high milage on and they are not worth enough to worry about when I'm done with them.

Most of the bikers I hang out with in the summer disappear when the first salt flies until the streets are washed clean by the spring rains. If I spent $15-20k on a chrome plated show bike I'd do the same.

Patrick · #4 Unread post by **Patrick** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 8:29 am

I love to ride and being down in Texas I can ride most of the months. I am one of those over 50 degree type of riders myself though when we have a lot of days below that, I will wear the chaps and such and take off for a bit of a ride. We plan to go today and tomorrow as temps will be over 50 today and over 60 tomorrow, but as to not make you feel bad, the forecast for after tomorrow is fairly crudy.

hordak · #5 Unread post by **hordak** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:24 am

gsJack wrote:That depends on the rider and to some extent on the bike they ride and most of all to how badly you want to ride. I rode yesterday and expect to get out again today and tomorrow.

I ride year round here in NE Ohio but there are not a lot of others that do. I don't go out if the streets are slippery with ice or snow but I do ride in a lot of salt water. I buy inexpensive bikes that I put high milage on and they are not worth enough to worry about when I'm done with them.

Most of the bikers I hang out with in the summer disappear when the first salt flies until the streets are washed clean by the spring rains. If I spent $15-20k on a chrome plated show bike I'd do the same.

You are my hero. I haven't been able to ride much here because it has been down in the 40s and raining.Looks like i'll have to get some warmer gear or have a short riding season.When does the snow go away?

TorontoBoy · Mon Dec 31, 2007 11:22 am

At minimum you should beware of snow, ice, sand and black ice. Any of these can be bad for bike and rider. It's also frikken cold riding at 0*C/32*F because the wind chill fctor.

How hard core are you?

Dragonhawk · Tue Jan 15, 2008 6:50 pm

Ohio has nice weather for about ... 20 minutes.

I'd say "riding season" lasts about 5 minutes before and after that.

gsJack · #8 Unread post by **gsJack** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 4:51 am

A little update here, it's been a bit milder than average winter here in NE Ohio so far. Rode last 4 days of 07 and then a blizzard came in for New Years day and our power was out for the day. Didn't get my Jan 1 ride in to get the year started off right.

Not to worry, in came some warm air from the SW and we had a couple near record days in the upper 60Fs and I rode again for another 7 days straight. Other days were in the 30s but that's all good too. Nothing big but went 20-50 miles or so per day last week.

Spring isn't that far away now that we're at mid winter and many good riding days will will be back soon for the spring thru fall riding for everyone season. We have a moderating affect from the Great Lakes where I am and an ample supply of water year round and no forest fires or hurricanes to worry about.

Thumper · #9 Unread post by **Thumper** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 4:59 am

I lived in the Dayton area for a couple of years; there were probably only 30 days out of the year where it could have been stupid to ride; the rest of winter was kinda cold, but it didn't snow a whole lot. If you don't mind rain and cold, you can pretty much ride year round there.

Granted, this is based on the couple of years I was there, and the weather might have been unusually mild...

#10 Unread post by **scan** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 4:13 am

Thumper wrote:I lived in the Dayton area for a couple of years; there were probably only 30 days out of the year where it could have been stupid to ride; the rest of winter was kinda cold, but it didn't snow a whole lot. If you don't mind rain and cold, you can pretty much ride year round there.

Granted, this is based on the couple of years I was there, and the weather might have been unusually mild...

I live in the Dayton area right now, and I agree. There is a small window of time that you cannot ride due to safety concerns, but otherwise the only limitation is your willingness to gear up for cold temps. I ride if it goes over 40, and that means most of the year I can get out at least a couple days in a month, and for greater than 6 months of the year I could ride daily without concern for getting cold. Ohio is a decent place to own a bike, in my opinion.