Originally Posted by
chefisaac
Well, I left the house and I knew it was going to be warmer and windy. So I dressed in as I would for the weather and about 3 miles into my 11 mile commute, it started down pouring. I couldnt see with my glasses on so I took those off and within 2 minutes, I was soaked. The wind I can handle, the cold isnt too bad yet the rain... well it was fun!
I do have a few questions:
1- I use clear safety glasses and I couldnt see when I was riding. Is that typical?
2- The glasses also fogged up... is that typical too? (problem solved taking them off but it was annoying to have water in my eyes)
3- Do you all get soaked in the rain when riding or does it come down to the clothes still? Or do you just live with the fact that you will be soaked?
4- Do you go home in wet or damp clothes? Do you bring another pair or riding clothes with you? Normally I would think riding in the same clothes would be ok going home but I am a little nervous for today. The winds will be 40 mph at cold... down to the 30's.
5- Anyone trying to dry their clothes at work? Since I would in a kitchen, I attempted to dry my gloves off in the stove at a real low temp. Worked ok. I just hung up the rest.
Any tips, suggestiones, tricks of the trade?
Thanks!
The best solutions I've found for water splattered and fogged up glasses/goggles are as follows: Wear a baseball cap or golf visor for downpour and fenders for upsplash. For fogging drill four 1/8" holes in an arc approx 1/4" from the top of each lense.
The goggles I use are from Home Depot and cost 5.00US. For deep winter I've got a pair of ski goggles which are
designed w/air space between one's face and the lense surface thereby resisting fogging. They work really well.
My rain gear consists of a complete set of J&G Clothing jacket, pants and helmet cover. They're
supposed to be waterproof/breathable, but one has a choice between getting wet from sweat or rain.
http://www.bicycleclothing.com All my shoe covers
are waterproof as I've brushed them w/Thompson's watersealer. Designed for concrete...fine for cloth.
And yes, I keep a complete extra set of cycling base-layer clothes for wet weather. Though it's rare to have to ride
both legs of one's commute in rain it
does happen upon occasion and that's why I keep a stash of cycling clothes at work.
I hang up all my commuting clothes and have a small heater obtained from Wally World set on fairly low. Brought in my own hangers and rack found at a thriftstore. The rack had rollers. Cut the legs w/a hacksaw, filed the ends of the tubes and used duct-tape as padding. Being fortunate in that I've got a free closet just off my work area I can keep my bike
and clothing in there. If anything drips it's not a hazzard and I can dry it up w/paper towells. My bike is
always dried completely before I roll it into the closet.
Have 2 sets of plug in warmers for drying gloves/mittens and socks. They work on a convection system...very effective.
Been doing this for 25 years in February starting out in Chicago, so they're aren't
too many situations not faced. Also, have toured extensively which gives one alot of survival ideas as well.
Mostly, I hope some of this is applicable to your situation. All the best.