Meet the man who rides his convertible with the top down every day...even in the rain and snow

• Laurens de Jong of Detroit has been riding this way for the past 12 years, after challenging himself to keep the top down for 100 days straight
• The 46-year-old commutes 50 minutes each way from his home to his job as an IT supervisor in downtown Detroit

By Ashley Collman For Dailymail.com

Published: 20:23 EST, 8 January 2015 | Updated: 00:00 EST, 9 January 2015

As freezing cold weather sweeps most of the country, many Americans are cranking up their thermostats and trying to avoid any time outside in the frostbite-inducing temperatures.

Not Laurens de Jong. The Detroit resident has been driving his convertible with the top down every day for 12 years running, no matter the weather.

The 46-year-old originally from the Netherlands has been riding his 50 minute commute to and from work al fresco since September 2003, when he challenged himself to keep the top down for 100 days.

More than a decade later, de Jong continues the habit but not because he's trying to set any record. He just like the way it feels to drive in the open air.

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Brrr: Laurens de Jong has been riding his convertible with the top down for the past 12 years

Hasn't stopped: 46-year-old de Jong, originally from the Netherlands, started the habit in September 2003, when he challenged himself to keep the top down for 100 days straight

'I love how unbelievably pure the air is when it's cold,' he told the Detroit News. 'I love the padded sound of tires on fresh snow.'

However, he does pridefully keep track of how many days in a row he has kept the top down, using a little metal counter stashed in his blue 2005 Honda S2000. As of Wednesday, that number was 2,809 days.

De Jong admits he's not superhuman. He does get cold on the commute, especially in the winter. Thursdays's temperatures around rush hour, for example, were just 9 degrees with fast-accumulating snow.

Snow, though, is not as much a problem for de Jong as rain - which has short-circuited his electrical system before. He says the only time he rolls the top up is if a passenger in the car asks or if there's a downpour.

Morning rush: Detroit residents often take pictures of de Jong out and about in unusual weather. His commute to his IT job in downtown Detroit takes about 50 minutes each way

Exceptions: De Jong says he only ever puts the top up if he has a passenger in the car who feel uncomfortable, or when it's downpour raining

Paying it foward: De Jong has started advertising a non-profit called THAW on the side of his car. The charity helps Michigan families in need pay their utility bills

However, he says he's mostly been able to avoid getting soaked by scanning radar for breaks in the rain.

De Jong has become somewhat of a celebrity in Detroit, where he works downtown as a IT supervisor.

Befuddled drivers on the road often take pictures of him driving around town in unusual weather.

De Jong says he gets a mixture of reactions - and not all of them positive.

One time, a man road up alongside him and said: 'You're lucky I don't have my gun with me!'

The majority of comments though, are from curious drivers asking if he's cold.

While de Jong isn't a big fan of people taking pictures of him on the road, he has accepted it as a reality of his lifestyle choice and embraced it by promoting a charity on the side of his car.

A sticker on both doors advertises the non-profit THAW, a charity which helps Michigan families in need pay their utility bills.

No one at the organization knew de Jong or that he was promoting their work, but the CEO said it was 'very cool' that he was going cold so that others wouldn't have to.