Rain is definitely a problem for a vehicle which depends on lateral tilt to turn and which depends on inertia to stay upright. Speaking as someone who has ridden many years round in Seattle, where the roads lean along with the hills even where the hills aren’t that steep. Those turns are a mistake or an unexpected cross vehicle away from a crash on our driest days, but the rain really amplifies that danger.

Rain wouldn't be such a problem if we had dedicated biking infrastructure ala The Netherlands. We need to rethink the design of our cities to move away from this car-dependent box we've put ourselves in, because just adopting EVs isn't enough.

I've driven in Seattle in the rain, and some streets (especially near Pike Place Market) are so steep that once my wheels lost their grip and slipped and rolled downhill a little at an intersection. I'm not sure why it's even safe to design an intersection on a very steep road that's difficult to stop at.

Water and slopes are not a good combination for road safety even for four-wheelers.

> I'm not sure why it's even safe to design an intersection on a very steep road that's difficult to stop at.

If you want to know the alternative, cross reference the Denny regrade (for historical precedent of making the hills safer to scale) and the West Seattle Bridge (for current frame of reference of how a relatively small infrastructure project has a huge impact). Nearly all of the roads heading east out of downtown have a high grade somewhere uphill that drivers struggle with even on dry days. Gratefully most of the worst car routes aren’t major bike routes.

Dedicated infrastructure and sane speeds solve this problem neatly.

I agree that rain isn't really a huge problem (though I still consider it a problem), but without enclosure you're unlikely to take random trips as you might not be able to change.

What are you wearing to keep your head from turning into a block of ice? We always end staying off the bike for the coldest months of the year.

You could switch to a ski helmet, those have removeable insulation pads. Otherwise a tight fitting thermal cap should do if you are huffing and puffing.