I had a nice, though fairly slow, ride today. Last evening I took my light off the Trek 1420 and put in onto my old Schwinn LeTour. It's set up for "wet," and it did a wonderful job. Thanks to the "Bicycle Mechanics" pages, I was able to fix a problem with shifting, and had no problems at all today. I found out that "Fenders really help in rain." That, I know, is a big revelation to everyone, but some don't really admit it. I've put the half of the an old water bottle at onto the fender to catch the spray, and it worked with amazing effectiveness. My socks did not get wet.

I was too dressed up on the way to work, and so biked home in my shorts, with a sweater (I bought a yellow one for commuting), good gloves, a bicycling poncho (which also works very well), my helmet over the poncho's hood, and a rain cover on the helmet. I look like a big, yellow blob flapping about going down the road, with my blinking light, and florescent yellow covers on my paniers.

Coming home, I took it easy, stayed away from cars (back streets, sidewalks, bike paths) and only had 8 cars pass within 15 feet on the street during my ride home. This was a very enjoyable, rainy day in Oregon for my commute.

John