As bicycle commuters, we've all been faced with riding in rain. This morning when I set out, it was 12C/54F and raining lightly. I opted to put on a rain jacket, some high-tech sporty thing that claims to breathe while repelling water. When I got to work 40 minutes later, the wettest part of me was my torso, not because the jacket failed to repel water, but because it failed to breathe, and I overheated and soaked myself in my own perspiration. I would have been better off without, I think. My shorts and shoes were drier than my shirt.

On Monday on the way home, I got caught in a downpour without a rain jacket. The temperature was around 15C/59F. I got soaked, but wasn't really that cold. I suppose if the temps were significantly lower (5C or so), I would be better off with a jacket, but in the summertime, it's rarely that cold, even here in the tundra.

So I'm wondering, for those of you who ride rain or shine, do you bother with rain gear? Does it depend on certain variables (e.g,. temperature, humidity, distance, how hard it's raining, phase of the moon, etc.)? I'm not looking for jacket recommendations - I already have one and doubt a different one would be any better - but I'm curious how others decide whether or not to don rain gear. You'd think that after a year and a half of cycle commuting, I'd have this figured out by now, but it's a pretty dry climate here, though this year seems to be wetter than last.