Do You Really Bike to Work in the Rain?

We've been having a wonderful indian summer. A bit chilly in the mornings, but dry and sunny. I hold no illusions but that the rains will eventually return. However, the rain bike has a new drivetrain and is waiting patiently in the garage.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night stops the dedicated bike commuter. Take a look at these statistics on commute method from the Census Bureau's 2008 American Community Survey:

City	State	% by bicycle
Portland	OR	6.0
Minneapolis	MN	4.3
Seattle	WA	2.9
San Francisco	CA	2.7
Sacramento	CA	2.7

Heading up the list is Portland, a city known more for ice storms than balmy breezes. I've never wintered in Minneapolis (#2), but I'll wager it's a little on the snowy side. My town, Seattle, squeaks in just ahead of the top-two California cities. San Diego (#22), Miami (#34), Las Vegas (#52) -- what's your excuse? It sure as heck can't be the weather.