Got up this morning and the ground was a little wet in spots, indicating it had rained during the night. Went out for a run and noticed some dark clouds approaching. About 1/2 mile into the run it started to sprinkle. I debated on turning around, but decided to keep going. It eventually became a steady shower.

Back at home I cleaned up and put on some workout clothes for my ride to work. Went sockless because I've found that socks absorb water like a sponge and will completely soak my clipless shoes. I packed my work clothes and an old towel, and grabbed my bike with fenders. By this point it was coming down pretty good, but it was a still an enjoyable ride. After I got to work I toweled off and changed into my work clothes.

I used to have a set of inexpensive panniers that were "water resistant." During heavy rains there would be spots where water would seep through. As a result I'd get to work and have random wet areas on my clothes. When that set of panniers wore out after 6 years of use I decided to splurge and get a set of Ortlieb back-roller city bags. I'm pretty cheap when it comes to spending money but now that I've had these for a few months they are worth every penny. I think I could hit them with a firehose and the contents would remain dry. That alone makes these bags nice to have, but when you add in the time savings with how fast they attach and detach from my rack (seriously less than 5 seconds) I can heartily recommend them to anyone in the market for a set of panniers.