Road Cycling - Riding in the rain

It's going to rain here all weekend. . I can't take that many days off from riding. I haven't ridden in the rain since I was little, on a bmx at that. lol

Any tips, or anything I need to know?

A proper wnter training bike has fenders and wider than normal tyres.
You have less traction on wet roads so corner more slowly and brake earlier. Feather your brakes to dry the rims before you brake. During an emergency brake, the first rev of the wheel will just dry the rim, it wont slow you down. Think and look ahead.
Watch out for metal grates, puddles of unknown depth, white road paint.
Be visible, wear bright colours and if needed, use lights.

Watch out for puddles and potholes. You dont want to hydroplane on the puddles, and you cant see the potholes. Dry your bike really well after the ride, and make sure it is lubricated. You dont want to ruin any of your stuff. I hate riding in the rain. It makes a mess of everything. I usually just do some weight training when it's nasty.

I heard that road paint thing before... are roads generally slicker over painted areas in the rain (when compared to non painted)? I never thought that it made a difference.

The paint they use gets slippery when it's wet. I road sportbikes for years, and the lines are terrible. They are even slick when they are dry. Ive had the rear end break lose while taking corners at 70 mph, because of them. Another thing that is bad, is wet leaves on the road.

The painted markings are as slick as ice when they are covereed with water. Another problem area is the area where cars queue near interstections, dropping oil. especially in the first half hour of a rain storm, these areas are also very slick. Of course, metal grates and manhole covers are a problem.

Another major issue is that drivers are preoccupied with maintaining control of their vehicles, mayhave fogged windows, and are looking for other large vehicles, and may not see a bike. More than in dry weather you should take every effort to make yourself visible, and do what you can to make it less likely a car will hit you.

Damn. . maybe I'll just take the weekend off. lol

Thanks everyone, I'll see how it is outside before I decide. :beer:

Glad we live in a Meditterrean climate. 9 inches of rain a year. Hate what the wet does to a drive train. Rode in rain twice last year. That was enough...

I ride a Trek Navigator with 26x1.95 tires in the rain all of the time - except for storms like we had Tuesday where you can't see 3 feet!

Watch out on roads that are not traveled well as they tend to get oily and also watch out for exotic, artsy-fartsy neighborhoods where the make the crosswalks out cobblestones and put in stupid traffic circles! You can be on your butt in an instant.

Dress for the weather, that is, wear a good rain suit and take along plenty of small towels to keep your glasses somewhat dry.

I have ridden in countless rainstorms and have only fallen once, and then because I disobeyed my own rule and rode on a road that hadn't had any automobile traffic in years. I turned sharply and was on my butt!

When riding in the rain, your odds of getting a flat go up substantially. Plus, patches don't stick well when the tube is damp. Bring an extra tube.

Originally posted by Roadlearner
It's going to rain here all weekend. . I can't take that many days off from riding. I haven't ridden in the rain since I was little, on a bmx at that. lol

Any tips, or anything I need to know?

To put it bluntly, just get out and do it. If you "wait and see what it does" or "think about it" you'll come up with all sorts of reasons not to go, thinking of all sorts of things that simply won't happen. IMO, rain is the ideal weather for cycling, simply because it has a cooling effect.

Chris is right. You want to give it a try,don' procrastinate too much. Not that you should not explore your needs before you do it.
As to Chris' positive feelings about riding in the rain: He lives in the tropics or semi tropics. Hot and sticky weather, I would like it too. Here when it rains it is cold. Seems tropical rains are are usually in better lighting conditions. Cyclists I talked to who ride in the warm rain feel better about that condition over a cold rains' chilling effect. Warm rains you don't need to wear any additional clothing. When the sun comes out you just dry off and feel cleansed. Like to give that a try myself.

when riding in the rain...

always wear brighter jerseys.. this is the time you need your reflectors, even though i don't like them(reflectors)..:(

Brake early.. sudden braking will lock your tires easily.. Slow cornering... well, actually slow everything.. If you have a helmet with a visor, it is a help.. If not, you can wear a cycling cap underneath your helmet.. This will keep the rain off your eyes..

:)

You know, I have started quite a few long rides with it raining lightly or threatening to and in the vast majority, it cleared up and the ride was nice.

I have done long rides mostly in the rain also. I do stop when the rain gets so hard that I have trouble seeing with my glasses on. But that takes a hard rain.

Actually, my experiences in the rain have been good. It is nice to go out and ride and still have a good time with the conditions against you. Makes me feel like I am not just a fair weather rider. That I can ride, if needs be, when things get a little adverse and it isn't bad. Sure the bike will get dirty. And I will get dirty. I also do all of the obvious things. I ride a little slower, I avoid puddles, I avoid paint, I brake early at stops.

I recall one ride. My friends had an annual New Year's Day ride. They would ride to down town Orlando and ride up the parking garages. For some reason that was an attraction. Well I checked the weather radar and saw this huge system bearing down on us from the west. I called them and asked them if they were riding and the answer was "OF COURSE!". So off we went. Boy did we get it on the way back. I recall at one light, the rain was just hammering down and it was about 4" deep on the road right there. We couldn't have gotten wetter if we rode our bikes through a swimming pool! Ah was that fun!

well, since we are in to rain experiences...

There was one time when it was raining really hard.. I mean really hard, that on my way home I had to cross a bridge that had water overflowing over it..

I carried my bike on my shoulders and crossed the bridge.. Man, the current was strong.. A couple of near misses (the concrete was so slippery).

Luckily, I was wearing MTN shoes.. If I had my road shoes on.. well, roadshoes won't have the grip..

Well, i guess my advise would be.... hmmm.... wear MTN shoes if its raining.. (you have to use MTN pedals, on your bike too)

Got in a 20 miler yesterday, just after the rain stopped. Speaking of wet leaves, I climbed a few steep hills, that were covered in them. They were so slippery, that the rear tire was spinning out, as I climbed them. You could see marks in them, where people had gone down.

For me riding in the rain is no big deal. Just have to remember that braking distances are substantially increased and grip isn't ideal. But I love the feeling of the tires cutting through the water.

i absolutely hate the rain unless i'm playing flag football or something...then it's just kinda funny. i'm so miserable when i have to do wet rides...water splashing through my shoes or through my shorts and down my butt crack. man, i HATE that...
guh...supposed to rain here the next few days, so i got out early this morning while the sky was a nice clear blue one. a few hours and 55 miles later i get home and it's all grey. but there sure are alot of chicks at the beach right now... :o

another thing to remember.... your brakes simply don't work as well in the wet. that, and grime and small rocks stick to your braking surface, so you'll grind down your brakepads pretty quickly. i wind up having to change mine out in a month or so of hard portland riding during the wet season, then not at all for 6 months of dry.

also, turning fast on wet leaves is not a good idea :) i popped my shoulder all mel gibson/lethal weapon-like a few years back because of that. thankfully, i was riding my mtb at the time.... that fall would have broken my carbon and steel roadie. the tradeoffs we have for weight-savings, eh?

once you get fully soaked, and get used to the rear tire of the guy in front of you flinging a steady stream of dirty water into your face, it doesn't get any worse. In fact, you may start to like it after a while

I was out on a ride last saturday and got caught in a downpour about 20 miles from home. Other than the blast of spray from the passing cars and foggy glasses it wasn't too bad. I actually felt pretty good about the ride. The road was slick and the bike needed lots of cleaning when I go home but overall kinda fun.

I tried to beat the rain yesterday and lost. I don't mind the wet. I'd recommend foot covers, everything else can get wet and feel fine. It's also a good thing to rinse out the helmet pads every once in a while before hand. Nothing hurts like salty rain water dripping into your eye.

BTW - if your shoes get wet, stuff them with crumpled newspaper. The paper will suck the water out.

It rains here occasionally. One morning, I was kindof dreading the ride in the dark and rain. Once I got out there and was going through it, I almost started laughing out loud. I love riding so much, that the rain was really a non-factor. What the hell was I dreading earlier? I'll be wet at the end of a ride rain or no - at least if it's raining, I'll stink less.

Wind and cold are worse for my disposition, but if I just view them as challenges, my mood improves immediately.

"There's no bad weather, only bad gear." <someone wise> Dress appropriately.

Yeah ...! i got soaked big time on my ride home tonite ( so cal ) no big deal. WD 40 the bike when i got in. Hard to see where you are going when its really coming down. I kind of like it to be honest.

Yeah ...! i got soaked big time on my ride home tonite ( so cal ) no big deal. WD 40 the bike when i got in. Hard to see where you are going when its really coming down. I kind of like it to be honest.

Riding in the rain--especially once your wet, and if it's *not* terribly cold--is cool! The downsides where we live (SoCal), are:

1) It tends to rain so INfrequently that, when it does, it raises a ton of oil off the roadway making it exceptionally slick, and

2) People around here don't understand what driving in the rain is all about (and are dealing with that road-surface oil thing during the first big rains). They pay even less attention to non-motorized traffic (eyes fixated on the road and nothing but the road) than usual, so stay brightly lit and hyper-vigilant!