Commuting - Rain wimps

WAIT! Don't get out your flamethrower, dudes and dudettes. I, too, am a "rain wimp."

I have ridden in the rain and even enjoyed it. BUT...

I am a "rain wimp." If there's rain in the forcast, I often avoid cycling that day (we don't get very much rain around here.)

Who else is a RAIN WIMP? Or, shall I say, "Precipitationally Challenged?" :)

(I plan to force myself into some afternoon warm-weather rainy rides, just to correct my deficiency! What's that?? So, you still think I'm a "rain wimp?" :eek: )

I don't like rain cuz my fur smells when it's wet!!

Truthfully, I don't mind rain if it's not too cold, I don't have the loot to spend on foul weather gear.

I'm a wimp. I don't like the clean up and the lubricating chores afterward. I just don't have time to deal with that.

Originally posted by Gus Riley
I'm a wimp. I don't like the clean up and the lubricating chores afterward. I just don't have time to deal with that.
???

I usually just give the drivetrain a wipe with a rag and relube, if I even do that much. It takes all of 30 seconds.

Filth on the frame is a badge of honour.

Originally posted by Allister

???

I usually just give the drivetrain a wipe with a rag and relube, if I even do that much. It takes all of 30 seconds.

Filth on the frame is a badge of honour.

But filth in cable housings, seat tubes and headsets are a real pain! Not to mention not being too healthy for the bike if left to corrode or wash the lube out.

Originally posted by Gus Riley


But filth in cable housings, seat tubes and headsets are a real pain! Not to mention not being too healthy for the bike if left to corrode or wash the lube out.
But Gus, this is a consumer society! You're supposed to just go out and buy a new bicycle (or better yet, an SUV) when your bike rusts due to neglect, benign or otherwise.

As for the wimp question, I think I qualify as a rain wimp, though I have ridden through torrential downpours. I don't have fenders and have found that the black stripe and specks don't wash out of my clothes. (Not that I'm that picky, but there are limits.)

I do like the feeling of riding through the rain. It's wonderful. But the inconvenience of the cleanup afterward makes it hard to get that enthusiastic that often.

BTW, I think the rain problem is a key element in bike commuting being less popular than it might be, at least in areas with a Continental climate. (I remembered that term from grade school!)

I wimped out this morning. :eek: :o

If it's raining for the morning commute, I'll drive...If not I cycle.
If it's raining for the return trip, I cycle anyway. :D

I AM looking forward to warmer weather, then I'll probably cycle on the rainy mornings too.

Yep, LBM, I'm glad it doesn't rain that many mornings around here. :)

Originally posted by JonR

You're supposed to just go out and buy a new bicycle (or better yet, an SUV) when your bike rusts due to neglect, benign or otherwise.
Jon, have you been looking at my bike again? :D I really do try to keep the poor thing clean. But, if you could see the winter sludge that I ride in daily, you too would understand my neglect. I do clean the bike every week or two, but it takes only minutes for the crusty coating to reappear. I can't wait for a nice, dry summer...

I avoid riding the Bianchi on wet roads, because I feel more secure on wider, lower-pressure tyres. About two years ago, I put full lightweight plastic mudguards and 700Cx28 tyres on the Capo, which has become my preferred bike for rainy conditions. (Without fenders, I am bothered much more by the water coming up from the wheels than that coming down from the sky.) I generally avoid recreational cycling during wet weather, but I have done plenty of transportation cycling in light-to-moderate rain. Dry socks at my destination and a plastic cover for my Brooks saddle are required.

I guess I would be a rain wimp these days.

My riding partner and I went out one weekend and got caught in a torrential downpour where the wind came up and the temperature went down and we were miles away from anywhere out in the open. We eventually made it to a Wendy's and called for a car pickup. We looked like two drowned rats eating chilli waiting for our ride.

Now I check the weather more before riding.

My all weather light-touring bike is waxed to repel dirt and rain. It looks a mess (but thats probably due to the home paint job) , but works fine. I rinse it off when the mud starts to accumulate.
I use full-length brake outers to protect the cable, and have no problems with them.

For occasional use, you dont need expensive goretetx. Cheaper breathable waterproofs work fine, they just dont last as long in regular use. Ive given up on waterproofs, and use a pertex outer shell.

Im really not to precious about the commuter bike. Maybe you rain-shy riders need training bikes fitted with fenders to use in bad weather.

MichaelW wrote: ". Maybe you rain-shy riders need training bikes fitted with fenders to use in bad weather."

Good idea!

...and barrda wrote: "We looked like two drowned rats eating chilli waiting for our ride."

I love that! :thumbup:

I avoid riding the Bianchi on wet roads, because I feel more secure on wider, lower-pressure tyres
I leave my road bike in the house on wet days and ride my MTB on 26 x1.5 tyres, it just feel much more stable on wet roads and brakes a lot better to.
I don't mind riding in the rain, it doesn't rain that much here, but I won't go for a ride if it is already raining. What I mean is: if it is already raining I'll stay inside, if it looks like rain is coming then that's OK. There is nothing worse than leaving a nice warm home and stepping into the rain while you get on the bike and get going.

When I move I plan to ride to work every day, so I better get use to riding in the rain. I will only be riding one-way though as it is 35km/22ml which is too far and too time consuming to ride both ways. Plus there just isn't enough light in the day to ride home.:(

CHEERS.

Mark

Originally posted by Dutchy
if it is already raining I'll stay inside, if it looks like rain is coming then that's OK. There is nothing worse than leaving a nice warm home and stepping into the rain while you get on the bike and get going.
This is the big hump to get over. It can seem like it takes a big effort of will to step out into the rain. The trick I've found is fairly simple: don't think about it. Treat it like any other day - just get up and go. If you stop and think about it, you'll come up with all sorts of reasons to not ride that day. Once you're out in the rain you forget why you hesitated. It also helps to let go of any idea that being out in the rain is somehow unpleasant. Try this little mantra: It's only water, it can't hurt me.

Besides, fully experiencing the environment is part of the joy of cycling is it not? I feel as sorry for the schmucks stuck in cars on rainy days as I do on sunnny days. Don't they realise how much fun it is to go out in the rain and get thoroughly soaked? They should watch a three year old occasionally. When it's storming here, wee Dougal likes nothing better than to strip off all his clothes and run around in the rain in search of the biggest puddles he can find to jump in. I feel some memory of that joy whenever I ride in the rain.

On the maintenance issue: I'd rather have a rusty bike than a disused one.

Disclaimer: It doesn't rain very often here in SE Queensland, and when it does it's warm. My wet weather gear is the same as my sunny weather gear - shorts and jersey. I have ridden in cold rain when I was in London. I dressed up to keep warm, but I still found it just as enjoyable.

I guess I'm a "cold rain wimp." I really don't mind summer rain, rather enjoy it, actually. But I do tend to take the train if I know it's going to rain and the temp's below 50F or so, particularly if it will be raining in the morning so I'd arrive at work wet with a wet bike.

Rainy days have been rare lately around here. I guess that's unfortunate -- droughts are no joke -- but I confess that my concern remains intellectual. In my gut a dry morning is a riding day, and therefore a good day.

RichC

talking about riding in the rain...
It amazes me how you can upset someone just by riding a bicycle to work in the rain.
A couple of weeks ago it was rainning pretty good and i road to work in my rain gear. I got there and a couple of guys we leaving and one turned to the other and said that I need to be on medication. I thought that he was jokingly saying it but when I look at him he looked to be clearly upset by it.

I can't wait for the rainy season.:)

I say I loathe biking to work or anywhere other than home in the rain. I can push myself into having fun rideing home in the rain because I can get home and hop in the tub. Sometimes I'm like a little kid splashing in puddles. Amazing the things you can get away with as an adult that would have you grounded as a kid.

I'm happy to ride in rain, unless it's truly torrential, or combined with strong wind. I don't mind vertical rain, but when it hits you horizontally I'm not so keen :)

Richard

I'd rather be a rain wimp than a brain wimp.

But I'd rather be neither than either. :)

Rain, sun, cold, heat. Da Rainman rides.

I throw one of those inexpensive little emergency ponchos from walmart in a bag if it gets bad when I'm out but generally I don't ride if it's wet or very cold. Why? Because I'm older, smarter, not as good looking and I don't want to.

Originally posted by heybulldog
talking about riding in the rain...
It amazes me how you can upset someone just by riding a bicycle to work in the rain.
A couple of weeks ago it was rainning pretty good and i road to work in my rain gear. I got there and a couple of guys we leaving and one turned to the other and said that I need to be on medication. I thought that he was jokingly saying it but when I look at him he looked to be clearly upset by it.

I can't wait for the rainy season.:)
I like your attitude! :D

Originally posted by Allister

The trick I've found is fairly simple: don't think about it. Treat it like any other day...

In Vancouver, this is easy to do: it is pretty much like any other day.

a joke from an article I saw at
http://www.canoe.ca/TravelBC/vancouver_020212-sun.html


A tourist arrives in Vancouver on a rainy day. He gets up the next morning and it's still raining. In fact, it's still raining three days later. He goes out to supper and spies a young kid. Out of despair, he asks, "Hey kid, does it ever stop raining around here?" The kid says, "How do I know? I'm only six."

-Cathy

Actually, to be fair, it doesn't really rain here every day. Summers are the drier season, and we do get weeks here and there that aren't punctuated by rain, even in winter, which is the main rainy season.

It was raining very hard today.

Cathy

Put me in the wimp column. To commute in the rain would require a full change of clothes at work, and probably a shower, too. Currently I just change my shirt. But it's largely been a non-issue over the last few years, given the ongoing drought here.

Cathy, I'm going to remember that funny joke!

:beer:

For me, riding in the rain isn't the ideal way to start a workday, but I ride anyway. Only when the temp is below 40 degrees F do I really hate it.

Now, on a hot summer afternoon, the rain can be a wonderful thing.

I guess my theory is that you can't change the weather, so rain or shine, I ride.

"Hey kid, does it ever stop raining around here?"

The opposite could be said for here at the moment. "Hey kid, does it ever rain around here?" so far we have had 47 consecutive
days without any rain, the record is 69.

CHEERS.

Mark

Definite rain wimp out here in the desert. Somehow the painted lines on the road turn super slick in the rain. Not to mention it can be next to impossible for motorists to see you, some can barely drive in ideal conditions as it is. If it's a light rain I will chance it, if it's moderate to heavy I give my bike the day off. I might be a rain wimp but at least I'm a warm dry wimp;)
-BT

The only time of year when it rains in Southern California is when it is chilly. Never a warm rain. Or at least rare. No matter how good your gear, rain gets under your helmet down your neck.Into your socks. Heah, 50 degrees and a wet body, can that cause hypothermia.? Not a problem- when a couple days later, it will probably be near 70 degrees.
Maybe you have warm rains? That would be ok, even though I dislike its effect upon braking and grit off of the road -all over you and your bike.
When you only get 15 days of rain a year, why? Wait for the 350 days of near perfect weather. Of course on a tour of Europe or wherever, I would ride- preferable in a warm rain, because that is what you have to do.

Excellent points Zealot. In AZ we have monsoons in the summer, and the rains are quite warm. But the big thing we have to deal with is the lightning. I think Tucson is tied with some place in Florida as having the most lightning strikes per year. Riding in the rain is a blast when you're goofing off, but if I'm riding to work the smell of burnt hair from the lightning may raise a few eyebrows. Aluminum frame, water and electricity don't mix:p
-BT

Originally posted by Richard D
I'm happy to ride in rain, unless it's truly torrential, or combined with strong wind. I don't mind vertical rain, but when it hits you horizontally I'm not so keen :)

Richard

I'm with you on this one. As long as it's not chucking it down when I leave the house, I'll ride. If it's a commute and raining and windy I'll think twice about it.

I've given up on weather report and just deal with it moment to moment.

I agree with most of the comments here. Rain riding really is not that bad. Fenders help make things more pleasant, especially when its wet but not really actually raining--which is a lot of the time. But, fenders aren't mandatory in my part of the world (SE US) and I often don't bother with them.

I've sworn off expensive rain gear like Goretex. It just does not work to traspire sweat at anywhere near the rates we cyclists generate it. If its really raining hard and somewhat cold, I will wear a vented cycling rainjacket--the ones with the large vented yoke built into the back. I find these much better than the best Goretex; and at 1/3 the price. However, most of the time I just wear normal riding attire and maybe add a very light nylon windbreaker. It get wet but knocks out the windchill and drys fast. Plus, it wads up into a pocket-sized stuff sack.

Only thing I really don't like is lightning. If I get stuck at work and its lightning, I hitch a ride or call my wife.

By the way, I've about decided that a fixed gear or singlespeed is the ultimate commuter ride. On the fixed, that rear "brake" is uneffected by wet rims and upkeep is trivial!

Davy

I just bought a rain jacket and pants from a internet dealer for $35-I'm going for it!

Originally posted by cyclezealot
When you only get 15 days of rain a year, why? Wait for the 350 days of near perfect weather. Of course on a tour of Europe or wherever, I would ride- preferable in a warm rain, because that is what you have to do.

Makes sense to me, although I have to say riding in the rain does kinda grow on you (esp. if you leave your wet clothes in a pile). I ride mostly to get somewhere -- work, home, friends, games, errands, whatever -- and wimping out in the rain means I either don't go out or else I take the bus or bum a ride. And when you live where it seems it rains more days than not, riding in the rain seems better than not riding at all. Same reasoning. I do what I have to do, and I don't do what I don't feel like doing. Happy is good.

Today I definitely wimped out. 38F at 7am, all-day soaking rain, street flooding, my arthritic joints told me I wasn't riding before I ever got out of bed. Took the train, got a chance to break in my new RioVolt MP3 CD player.

And yesterday I had to drive because I had a doctor's appointment in the 'burbs followed immediately by a meeting downtown at work, no time to change and ride.

It's been a good while since I missed two days in a row. I already don't feel right.

RichC

Don't be so hard on yourself Rich, you are still hardcore to me:thumbup:

yeah Rich, you sould like me -- if you can say that 2 days not commuting on the bike is a problem then everything sounds just fine...

as someone from Vancouver stated --- i think it has a lot to do with what you're used to. i lived in Portland OR 3 years and like Vancouver, if you don't ride in the rain you don't ride for like 8 months straight (summers rock - dry and NOT humid!)

but now i'm in Munich where the weather's more irregular - we had 3 weeks straight of sunny warm early spring and now it's raining this week and i feel like such a wuss - although i still commuted every day this week AND made the Wednesday night group trail ride alone b/c everyone else cancelled... with a few extra preparations and all, once i get on the road it's fine --- but when i look out the window in the morning and see rain --- it's bothers me now when in Portland it was just expected... and i think about taking the train and sometimes do just not to face the rain (never did that in Portland)

what really bothers me is WIND - i hate is riding in the WIND - a strong headwind is worse than a big hill or a torrential downpour any day - the last few weeks here have been really windy and on the way home i'm often reduced to 10-15kmh(7-9mph) insetad of my usual 25-32kmh(15-20mph) on FLAT terrain - it's infuriating!!! standing up doesn't help b/c then you have more wind drag and aero position feels really dumb going so slow!!!!

Originally posted by nathank
what really bothers me is WIND - i hate is riding in the WIND - a strong headwind is worse than a big hill or a torrential downpour any day

During the summer and fall the prevailing winds here seem to be such that I have headwinds (from the northeast) in the morning and headwinds (from the southwest) in the evening. So mostly I can only wish they're not too strong. They take their toll on my average speeds, though (yeah, that's the ticket... it's not me, it's the wind).

Wind is another reason I would be nervous about single-speed commuting. This morning I was feeling a little weak, riding the heavy steel tourer, and carrying some extra stuff in my panners and found myself in my 1:1 combo during one climb. If there'd been a strong headwind it would have been really tough. Absolutely no way I could have done it on a 42-17.

RichC

I honestly can't understand how anyone can not ride in the rain. I had no plans at all to go riding this morning, but decided to do so when I saw the rain. I actually prefer riding in the rain to riding when it's not raining.

As far as riding in lightning goes, I can understand why people are reluctant, but there really is very little to fear. Some of my most memorable commutes have been in storms. The chances of actually being struck by lightning are extremely remote, and virtually negligible by comparison with the chances of being struck by a car (something that can happen irrespective of the weather).

What are the odds of getting hit by a car and then being hit by lightning???

Originally posted by Chris L
I honestly can't understand how anyone can not ride in the rain. I had no plans at all to go riding this morning, but decided to do so when I saw the rain. I actually prefer riding in the rain to riding when it's not raining.

Well, there are reasons, if understanding is really what you're after. The extra time to care for the wet bike after the ride may be hard to come by, especially on an inbound commute. And there's a huge difference, far greater than the sum of their parts, between being cold or wet and being cold and wet. A difference that I notice a lot more now than I did 30 or 40 yea

I do enjoy riding in the rain in the summer, though.

RichC

Originally posted by Chris L
I honestly can't understand how anyone can not ride in the rain.

Frostbite and Hypothermia

(It's still cold in Iowa)

Originally posted by Rich Clark
Well, there are reasons, if understanding is really what you're after. The extra time to care for the wet bike after the ride may be hard to come by, especially on an inbound commute.

I usually just give it a quick spray with some WD-40 or something similar to keep corrosion out of it. Then I give it a quick re-lube when I get home (assuming it even needs that much. For some reason my chain tends to hold it's lube pretty well in torrential rain and I've never known why).



Originally posted by IowaParamedic

Frostbite and Hypothermia


I've never heard of these things. For some reason I'm always thinking only of trying to avoid skin cancer and dehydration. Riding in the rain is very useful for this.

I am beginning to wonder: what is the coldest temperature Chris L. has ever ridden in? And may I dare ask, the hottest? :eek:

Originally posted by LittleBigMan
I am beginning to wonder: what is the coldest temperature Chris L. has ever ridden in? And may I dare ask, the hottest? :eek:

Coldest: minus 4C. Springbrook, 2001.

Hottest (officially): 47C. Canungra, 1999. I actually thought Canungra was hotter than that one day a few months back, but I didn't get confirmation of that one.

(someone else can convert these, I can't be bothered).

It never rains in Southern California, unless its cool. Just do not like cool rains and cool/damp cycling clothes. warm maybe. Bet, Chris' rain rides are in a warm Australian climate. 47 degrees C. might be an improvement if its wet.?

Originally posted by RainmanP
Rain, sun, cold, heat. Da Rainman rides.

Now that's about all there is to it. Well put, Rainman!

--J

I have needed to bike because I am inspired by the forum. However, the temp was hovering around 35 degrees F during the last week.

I picked a sunny day, and did it. I am starting to figure out what you are talking about. The first mile my fingers were freezing to the brake handles. After that, I was comfortable. Now I know, I can handle cold.

But wet and cold is a different story.

Its raining here today - cant get the energy up to take it on. Its also not warm enough to take the plunge. There are plenty of days ahead.:o