About a year ago I bought a set of rain gear for riding. So, finally yesterday I got around to doing my first significant ride in the rain, that being from Torrance, through South Bay, Santa Monica, and on into the Santa Monica Mountains. From that experience I can give some tips for anyone who has yet to do their first rain ride. I'm sure there are others who have stuff to share in this vein.
- Stay away from the beach bike path! The tires will kick up sand and it will get into EVERYTHING, all over the drivetrain, between brake pads and the rim, all over you including inside your shorts, onto your cliff bar (enhances mineral intake), and into your waterproof light housings.
- Cinch up your shorts, or water will drip from the back of your rainjacket, down the inside of your shorts, ending you up with the condition known to medical science as "wetass".
- Micro-climates are more intense during wet weather. Be prepared for colder-than-you-think weather and have room to stow layers when it gets "balmy".
- Forget goggles or clear glasses. The raindrops on the outside make them unusable.
- Water will get where you won't expect. Note the wetass comment above. I wore my backpack under my rainjacket, but water kicked up by the rear wheel sprayed it from below. I had a trash bag over my handlebar bag, but water found its way to soak the bag anyway. Baggies work well to waterproof inidvidual items. Have waterproof gloves? Too bad. You take off your gloves to do something that requires the dexterity of an ungloved hand. Then when you go to put your gloves back on, your hands are WET; and you have nothing to dry them off.
- As usual, be prepared for flat tires. And other forms of breakdown.
Just to keep myself from thinking I'm some sort of "trooper" for going out for a day in wet weather, I read this post in the Western Canada section"
As a year-round commuter, I thought that I've had it pretty lucky here over the last five years. Ya, we get the odd skiff of snow, and the temperatures drop below zero from time to time. I thought last Sunday's commute was a little dodgy, but today's beat that hands down.
I fell once, and I wouldn't even call that a wipeout, as I was trying to pedal through about a foot of snow. The bike came to an abrupt stop, I couldn't unclip, and then just fell over.
I love the fact that the sidewalk on the Burrard Street Bridge was plowed this morning (5:30 am), and it looked like it was plowed quite recently on my my home too (around 3 pm) - but for the love of god...plow an entrance to the frickin' street, don't just stop. My re-entry to traffic was marked with about a foot and a half dump of snow.
Anyways, I walk through that, remount and startup again. I'm back on a relatively clean lane, but the bike is starting to follow some small ruts and snow packs. The front wheel skids a little, but I'm still able to remain upright. However my correction has put me into a thirty degree change of course to my right. Thank god there were no parked parks, but an intersecting street instead. Whew! The rest of Cornwall (left lane only) was fine.
Overall, I thought the streets weren't that slippery, and the drivers were pretty patient because...I was taking the lane.
Thank god I have the next two days off. I bought enough groceries on the way home, so that hopefully I won't have to leave until work on the 24th.
How about the rest of you guys? Anyone making different plans for tomorrow?