Commuting - Early morning bath

This morning at 7.15 on my commute I went through a puddle which (in the glow of my light) looked to be about half an inch deep.

Now admittedly I was tramping on a bit, but I don't think I deserved to get soaked from my knees down. The puddle was at least 2 inches deep and this combined with my speed created a tsunami which flowed past my guards and mudflap and comprehensively soaked my lower half, filling my nice Vittoria shoes with icy water and turning my white socks brown.

Still it woke me up :)

On the way home I plan to take that puddle in bottom gear at 1 mph with my legs spinning like crazy.

In Nairobi during a storm a year or 2 ago, a pedestrian walked though a puddle. The puddle concealed the open manhole to the sewer system. Pedestrian fell down the manhole into the sewer and was never seen again.
Be afraid....

Now if that pedestrian had had a plank of wood strapped across his arse.....(like every pederstrian should - just in case). :)

Originally posted by chewa
...comprehensively soaked my lower half, filling my nice Vittoria shoes with icy water and turning my white socks brown.

Still it woke me up :)

On the way home I plan to take that puddle in bottom gear at 1 mph with my legs spinning like crazy.

Hey, I don't know what you're complaining about. It makes a change from being soaked from above doesn't it? ;)

Any way, haven't you got these wonderful 20mph plus drying winds up your neck of the woods? :)

Richard

Last June, while riding home as Tropical Storm Allison soaked the New Orleans area, I was forced to ride through some flooded streets. Though the water was sometimes a foot deep, it was clear enough that I could always bottom pretty well. It was a good thing because at one point while riding through water about 6 inches deep I approached a dark green circlular spot where water seemed to be welling up. I quickly realized that it was an open manhole whose 200-300 pound cover had been pushed completely off by the pressure of the excessive water in the storm drainage system! That gave me PLENTY to think about next time the streets are flooded.
Regards,
Raymond

My policy is that if I see a puddle within easy reach that I can see the bottom of, I will ride through it by choice. Unfortunately, we haven't had too many lately. Rainfall has been pitifully low around here for basically the last two years.

I once cycled through an underpass that had a bit of a puddle at the bottom... which came up over my pedals! I was about half way through when that happened, and decided to keep going rather than put my foot down.

I did try to warn the cyclist heading the other way, but I don't think he listened to me!

Ellie

I do believe it's best to avoid all puddles that could conceal something. Here in the US, at least, there are many, many storm drains with the gratings installed so they act as "bike traps." You can be killed by them. Progress is being made to reverse the direction of the grids, or to install gratings with square apertures instead of slits, but it's slow going, because, after all, cyclists aren't all that important....

Originally posted by Ellie
I did try to warn the cyclist heading the other way, but I don't think he listened to me!
That's sometimes the way it goes... :D

Originally posted by JonR
I do believe it's best to avoid all puddles that could conceal something. Here in the US, at least, there are many, many storm drains with the gratings installed so they act as "bike traps." You can be killed by them. Progress is being made to reverse the direction of the grids, or to install gratings with square apertures instead of slits, but it's slow going, because, after all, cyclists aren't all that important....
Funny, let one motorist get second degree burns from McDonald's coffee, and the whole of coporate America gets the heebee-jeebies and starts printing warnings like, "WARNING: THIS COFFEE IS HOT AS H*ELL." Let a cyclist fall down into a storm drain grating and it's her/his own d*amn fault for riding a bicycle on the street.

:mad:

Yep, when biking, 90% of the rain comes from below. :)

...90% comes from below, and 95% of that ends up as a black streak down your back! :mad:

(OK, I know I should get fenders.)