Commuting - Is it weird to enjoy commuting in the rain?

I was riding to work this morning and actually found myself enjoying the commute as the rain poured down. I felt cheerful, which is not normal, and the only thing I can attribute it to was the drenching rain. Am I weird, or do others like commuting in the rain too?

I was just reading some email from the Backcountry Trails a couple of guys said the same thing. I am looking forward to the wet this afternoon its almost 70 here and no wind! Its like being a kid again when it was cool to be wet and muddy :D

Now that I think of it maybe you were one of the emails

nope not I, but I'm going to check the list serve since you mentioned it

I love commuting in the rain. Makes me feel more alive. I am able to better connect with the mossy trees.

Also, I just invested in some good rain gear, so I like to be able to comfortably ride in rain.

I have a hard time understanding why so many people can't stand the rain. People like to be out in the sun, where they're soaked with rays.... People like to take showers and run through sprinklers.... People like trees, plants, flowers, shrubs, and grass, so why can't they appreciate the rain that makes them possible?

I guess it's all good: keeps more people from moving here to the Northwest.
:beer:

"Let a smile be your umbrella." ;)

Seriously, it depends on your attitude. I try to enjoy the weather and be grateful for the opportunity to experience it. A lot of our fellow humans are trapped in their cars or glued to their couches by their own inertia. I don't envy them.

It makes me feel like being a kid again. I actually charge the big puddles. Ye haa...

I honestly don't mind the rain at all. It's just a bit harder to brake. It also makes me feel like a kid, and I kind of laugh at seeing people running around trying to stay dry. What I hate, though, is when you have to spend all day in wet clothes after your ride. So now I bring a set of dry clothes with me to school when I know I'm going to get seriously wet, or I wear my waterproof pants/jacket. And I'm happy all day!

I was riding to work this morning and actually found myself enjoying the commute as the rain poured down.

Same here.


I felt cheerful, which is not normal, and the only thing I can attribute it to was the drenching rain.

Agreed.

I actually prefer riding in the rain to riding when it's not raining -- hence all my posts complaining about this seemingly interminable drought (which might just break this summer).

I remember one particularly memorable commute in February 2001 in a monster storm. I rode next to the South Pacific watching the strom roll in with an excellent light show across the ocean, rainbows dotting the horizon in just about all directions - and to the west one of the best sunsets I've ever seen. All the people cowering out of the rain missed that one, and yet I felt like one of the most privileged human beings alive.

Warm and wet on the way home, no sooner than I walked through the door it stopped down pouring. It was fun and all my fellow peddlers had smiles on their faces when I passed them.

I actually prefer riding in the rain to riding when it's not raining -- hence all my posts complaining about this seemingly interminable drought.

Drought? We've been getting plenty of rain up here in Brisbane dude. I wouldn't have thought Surfers' weather would be significantly different than Brisbane's.

Drought? We've been getting plenty of rain up here in Brisbane dude. I wouldn't have thought Surfers' weather would be significantly different than Brisbane's.

Check the BOM website. According to that, since Feb 2001, we've had less than 50% average rainfall. We've had a bit recently, but it's only really been drizzle, and not nearly enough to bridge that sort of gap -- and the water level out at Hinze dam is still well below 50% capacity, having never been below 56% prior to April 02. You can still be fined $15,000 for using your hose on the wrong day down here.

Either way, I'm hangin' out for some serious tropical downpours.

You need to seek psychiatric help.

Some of my favorite riding days from last winter were in the snow. It happened three times: it started snowing in the early afternoon, so they sent everyone home from work. I sometimes use the Blue Ridge Parkway to commute, and they close it down when it snows. So on these three days, I had the whole road to myself. It was quiet and absolutely beautiful! Looking forward to the cold winter months already.

Check the BOM website. According to that, since Feb 2001, we've had less than 50% average rainfall. We've had a bit recently, but it's only really been drizzle, and not nearly enough to bridge that sort of gap -- and the water level out at Hinze dam is still well below 50% capacity, having never been below 56% prior to April 02.

Nerd Alert!! ;)



You can still be fined $15,000 for using your hose on the wrong day down here.

Ah yes, the need for the perpetually green lawn in the driest continent on earth. And drought or no, the people who hose down their driveway instead of using a broom need to be strung up by said hose until they cease to be stupid.

Someone once told me that there is no such thing as bad weather, just different kinds of weather. I live by that and I enjoy all kinds of weather when I bike, it's refreshing and a good way to start and end a commute day.

We broke a record yesterday 5+" in 24 hrs rock on

so the question is... how many miles did you do in that beautiful rain yesterday?

i rode 20 yesterday... 10 were my commute, 10 were for fun in the rain. :D

I got 15 ten for my commute and 5 for the he!! of it. My feet webbed so now I am ready for winter :D

Here in the desert rain is good weather! Over 115 degrees is definitely bad weather in my book. Anything else though is usually nice. We are dealing with drought here too. I had a nice ride in the rain a week ago though. I was out before dawn and as the sun rose it showed the mountains in the east shrouded in misty clouds here and there. Looked awsome, it was definitely one of those moments, then it started raining on my way back, just kept getting better!

And today its 70 and sunny at Gasworks! Must be our reward for yesterday. I think I will ride all 34 miles home tonight!

you work near gasworks ngateguy?

i work fremont, stuck here for another hour or so, then i'm heading up to REI to pick up some ast minute gear for my austin cycling trip this weekend... :D

you work near gasworks ngateguy?

i work fremont, stuck here for another hour or so, then i'm heading up to REI to pick up some ast minute gear for my austin cycling trip this weekend... :D

Right across the street I am looking at the entrance to the park right now! I'm out the door in 15 then north on the BG to Bothell then Bothel Everett Hwy home. Usually I take Dexter into town and catch a bus to Eastmont(South Everett) then ride home from there but the weather is to nice to pass up a nice commute home. We'll have to do a ride sometime

I enjoy riding in the rain. The wet part is fun. What I don't like is the dreary clouds rain comes out of. Grey skies are depressing. The best showers are those that come on partially cloudy days so you can be in the rain and the sun at the same time.

Am I weird, or do others like commuting in the rain too?
Like is probably too strong a word. I do it, and don't complain, and some days it's even enjoyable. It's getting wet in the morning and having to climb back into wet lycra at the end of the day that I find most unpeasant about it.

And drought or no, the people who hose down their driveway instead of using a broom need to be strung up by said hose until they cease to be stupid.

What I want to know is why our lovely council down here hoses down roads every morning. They were even doing this back in January of this year when our water supply was 28%! What exactly are they expecting to grow on the road anyway? If they're hoping to wash away oil deposits, I can categorically tell them they failed.


It's getting wet in the morning and having to climb back into wet lycra at the end of the day that I find most unpeasant about it.

For that one merely needs to carry a change of lycra.

Yesss.

I'll quote my own post on this subject from last year:

"Strangely enough, I often enjoy the winter commute, which here in Seattle means dark and rain. But if I'm sealed in the Goretex suit, neoprene booties, full-finger gloves and eye shield that "Velcroes" to the helmet, there is something cool about being one of very few bikers on the commute. And people give you a wide berth, no doubt suspecting some severe behavioral disorder."

After Friday evening, I want to know this: Is it weird to enjoy commuting in a lightning storm? If so, you better call the men in the white coats. :D

After Friday evening, I want to know this: Is it weird to enjoy commuting in a lightning storm? If so, you better call the men in the white coats. :D

Only of your riding steel :D

"And people give you a wide berth, no doubt suspecting some severe behavioral disorder."

Funny.