General Cycling Discussion - Biking in rain.

Tomorrow I have to take my Jetta in for servicing. It will take ALL day. Boring sitting in a dealership lobby watching soaps with the older housewives. No movie theaters in the town of my dealership. Bars maybe- all day.
70% chance of heavy rain tomorrow. It is 25 miles away from my hometown so stuck there.
My question. I have the gear- do we really enjoy riding in the cool rain for hours??? What else can I do? Go to a bar?? would you take your bike and ride in the rain? Or watch tv soaps for 8 hours. Child birth takes less time than this particular auto servicing. Go to a bar, might get a DUI. Guess favor riding in the rain..

You call yourself a "cyclezealot", and need to ask whether or not you should go out for an eight hour bike ride, when the alternative is sitting in an auto dealership, watching sappy sitcoms with housewives? :D

Where is your VW dealership, C.z.? If you take your Jetta to Herman Cook (Encinitas) or Bob Baker (Carlsbad), you can hop on the Coaster (with your bike, if you wish) and spend the day playing tourist in downtown San Diego, Balboa Park, and Old Town. If you can postpone your car service for a couple of days, the weather will improve.

Go on a bike shop tour! Nothing like spending quality time biking from one shop to the next, 8hrs? Sounds like a field day to me :)

John, Figured what I am going to do. The car Dealership is in Escondido. Will take my old hybrid bike i rarely use. Bus it over to LBS in Oceanside and do some servicing to it, at same time as my Jetta.
Since I like to live up to my name, I best bike back the 20 miles plus to auto shop. Get hybrid looked at for some needed changes; maybe can keep nagging at my wife with my quest to find the right bike -that she might ride. Because of my fireman like work schedule, have to ride whenever I can.
Riding in rain is new to me, like night riding. Have rain gear for whenever I might need it on an extended tour.Heah, we live in California- un-nice days are a rarity. Comes as a shock.

I actually prefer riding in the rain to riding in the non-rain. The act of riding should warm you up sufficiently to offset any cold (it certainly does for me). The other thing you will want is a dry change of clothes for when you actually finish the ride. That's when the cold is likely to set in.

I don't ride in the rain often, because it's a bit on the messy side.

But just because it can be messy, it doesn't mean it's not fun!
(Sometimes, it's an exhilirating experience you can't get anywhere else!)

Chris. I have rain proof helmet cover, jacket,pants, socks,gloves. Does it not work.? Cold wet clothes can make you sick? It is all a thinsolate (SP?) material. Have Worn jacket just out in rain, not on bike yet, I felt pretty dry. Not tried the whole suit yet. Hope it works. Best wear a warm jersey underneath?
Heah, are all you guys up in Australia yet? Sometimes Work nights like me. ps- Reason I will take old hybrid bike, other than maybe better traction-, is do not want to mess up by good road bike.

Originally posted by cyclezealot
Chris. I have rain proof helmet cover, jacket,pants, socks,gloves. Does it not work.?

I don't know if you've ever seen a Queensland downpour. Basically, forget about keeping anything out of a plastic bag dry in such circumstances. I've learned that on a few occasions.


Originally posted by cyclezealot

Cold wet clothes can make you sick? It is all a thinsolate (SP?) material. Have Worn jacket just out in rain, not on bike yet, I felt pretty dry. Not tried the whole suit yet. Hope it works. Best wear a warm jersey underneath?

It's all gonna depend on the conditions you are riding in. In Queensland it's far too hot for 99% of the time to go the 'whole suit' as such because of the body heat generated while you are riding. However, when you stop riding, this is no longer the case.

Hence out here you often end up stopped but with a wet jersey. It's best in such circumstances to have something dry to change into.



Originally posted by cyclezealot
Heah, are all you guys up in Australia yet?

It's currently around 8.25 am right now. I've been up for a few hours. If I get up at 6am, I refer to that as "sleeping in".

Originally posted by Pete Clark
But just because it can be messy, it doesn't mean it's not fun!
(Sometimes, it's an exhilirating experience you can't get anywhere else!)

Absolutely!

You know one thing I have never seen? Rain-proof shorts. I have considered buying a cheap pair of rain pants and cutting them off. Not that I have this problem at the moment, but attempting to ride in a summer rain and staying dry is next to impossible. Most rain gear seems to be made for sub-zero temps. What gives?

Originally posted by Steele-Bike
You know one thing I have never seen? Rain-proof shorts. I have considered buying a cheap pair of rain pants and cutting them off. Not that I have this problem at the moment, but attempting to ride in a summer rain and staying dry is next to impossible.

You know, I've often wondered that, too! It's definitely not comfortable riding in wet chamois. And, that streak of road stuff you get on the back of a pair of shorts really isn't good! Somebody really should make something to improve shorts in wet conditions.

velo

The same idea has crossed my mind too. There is such a thing as a warm rain. Chamois does not get better in wet conditions regardless of the temperature. Somebody need suggest that to bike clothing manufacturers.

Take a lesson from Queensland.

If it's warm enough (that's up to you,) don't dress to keep out the rain. Just keep some DRY clothes handy for changing into! :D

(And keep that cadence up!) ;)

Originally posted by Pete Clark
Take a lesson from Queensland.

If it's warm enough (that's up to you,) don't dress to keep out the rain. Just keep some DRY clothes handy for changing into! :D

(And keep that cadence up!) ;)

And be careful on those friggin' roundabouts.

Riding in the rain is OK by me, getting soaked isn't that bad after the first five minutes, once you've warmed up you just have to keep going.

Riding in the snow, now that's a challenge, if you have the right stuff on the wheels, you can really do OK too. The workout is incredible, I'm still sore from the past few days of riding around in the soft mushy stuff but managed to skin up a knee when I hit some ice. :rolleyes:

riding in the rain is a lot of fun.
watch the road takes on a new meaning.
the man hole covers are like ice.
and the painted lines are very slippery.
forget about keeping dry just change when you can.
and stay warm. (rain gear that keeps water out will keep water in ) the wind will feel like sand. your glasses may
fog up and you will have to wipe them, so you can see the road. if you take them off rain and wiind may get in your eyes

I love riding in the rain just have to take it slow
and stay on top of the bike during turns...
have fun

K

Riding in rain is part of commuting. Getting wet as part of riding in the rain. If you wear ANY rain gear when it is hot, you will sweat inside just because you now have on too many layers for the temperature. NOTHING, even Gore-Tex is "breathable" enough for hot weather. In cool weather, you will still get wet from sweat because of the lack of breathability. Gore-Tex becomes more effective. Even on a dry day, if you have on too many layers for the temperature, you will get wet from sweat with no place to go.

As ahuman said, forget about staying dry, just don't get too cold and have a change of clothes. I only put on a rain jacket when the temperature or wind is chilling me. Otherwise, I just get wet. I neither like it nor dislike it. Rain happens. Though it is kind of fun sometimes.

I do keep my stuff dry.

C.z.: I don't know if you've tried it yet, but there is an excellent east-west 7-mile Class I bikeway in northern Oceanside, along the southern bank of the San Luis Rey river. It runs parallel to Hwy 76 and now extends to the west side of I-5. If your car is at the Escondido Auto Park, you can ride Del Dios Highway on your return trip; now that the construction has been completed, we have an intact Class II bike lane the whole way from Solana Beach to Escondido. Being unwilling to take the lane on a 55mph 2-lane road, I avoided Del Dios for 18 months, while various sections of bike lane/shoulder got dug up and replaced. Now, it is a beautiful ride.

Johh. Got my car repaired today. Rode to shop in Oceanside. Disappointed. Rain as I left home. After leaving shop for Oceanside, sun came out. Rain gear was way too warm. Good to know about Del Dios. that is a ride I always liked Last time however, road was tore up and I avoided it for a long time. Great bike path now, will be anxious to return. thanks CZ.

Came upon this today:
It was raining and I tried a new path (you don't ride on the streets in Houston, unless you want to die) which took me into a stupid foresty, winding trail which was entirely new to me.
I came upon a neighborhood and an unleashed, pissed off dog... I examined the situation and decided to continue, but the dog decided to chase me. So I was stuck trying to out-ride a dog on a winding, unknown, wet, leaf-covered trail, in the rain...

Originally posted by eckroth
Came upon this today:
It was raining and I tried a new path (you don't ride on the streets in Houston, unless you want to die) which took me into a stupid foresty, winding trail which was entirely new to me.
I came upon a neighborhood and an unleashed, pissed off dog... I examined the situation and decided to continue, but the dog decided to chase me. So I was stuck trying to out-ride a dog on a winding, unknown, wet, leaf-covered trail, in the rain...

But you made it...and that's what counts! ;)

I don't mind getting wet (and thanks to my Gore Tex jacket my top half doesn't), but this morning the rain was so cold and it took about 10 miles for my leg muscles to warm up.

I'm sipping tomato soup as I type this so it doesn't seem so bad now:)

What makes the difference for me is if it's warm or cold. You just have to be prepared for the weather, and have the right clothes available. If you get too cold and wet, it can be dangerous, especially if you have to stop for any reason. That's when it's a good idea to have some sort of covering even if you don't wear it on the bike. Of course when the rain turns to ice, that's a different story!

What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger:cool: :cool:

I prefer riding in the rain and go to a bar :beer: (in random order):D

Originally posted by chewa
I don't mind getting wet (and thanks to my Gore Tex jacket my top half doesn't), but this morning the rain was so cold and it took about 10 miles for my leg muscles to warm up.

10 miles translates to about 16km. It normally takes me at least 20km to warm up properly in any kinds of weather. I don't really understand this.

I'm new to having a road bike, I've been taking it out in light rain anyway because I always want to ride it.

Anything to keep in mind--I'm figuring my brakes are less effective. Should I wait until I get some basic mountain bike for rain riding?