RonH

Here's an easy one, I hope.
How do you keep your feet/shoes dry when it's raining?
It was raining this morning so I drove to work.
My problem is keeping dry (from rain, not sweat) when I commute. I work for a small company and don't have an office, a cubicle, locker, or a place to keep an extra pair of shoes. In fact there is only one men's room (no shower) for me to use for clean up and changing once I get to work.
I wear my shoes (Lake MX100) at work so it would be nice if they were dry.
Any thoughts? Thanks.

Ron

MichaelW

There are 2 separate problems in the rain
1. Wet footwear
2 Cold feet

The usual racers answer is to use neoprene overboots, which keep you warm, but not neccessarily dry. OK in winter, for longer commutes, when you dont mind gearing up.
The MTBers solution is to let the water through the shoes, but use a goretex sock to keep it off your socks.
The tourists solution is to keep the water out to start with, by wearing some lightweight waterproof hiking boots, and using fenders to stop most of the front wheel spray.

In a hot summer, anything waterproof will be too hot.

Why not keep some sports shoes under your desk and let your wet shoes dry out. Expensive cycling shoes sometimes crack at the cleat holes if you walk in them a lot.

mike

Dang, MichaelW is hot with the good advice recently.

In my opinion, there is no good way to keep your feet dry in rain.

You can put covers on your shoes, but then your feet perspire and the inside of the bag gets almost as wet as if you just got rained on.

The two shoe approach is the only real solution I see.

At work here in the snowy midwest, the secretaries leave their work shoes under their desks as MichaelW suggests. They have to wear big wool felt lined pac-boot "Swampers" to face the blizzard conditions of winter when walking to/from their cars. They just switch shoes at work and leave the swampers by the desk. Everybody is OK with it.

Chris L

The two shoe approach is the only one that will work if you have to keep your shoes dry. Otherwise it will be pretty hopeless to keep your feet dry in the rain I rode in yesterday.

Chris

mike

Once, some kids in a car intentionally splashed a huge puddle on me when I was biking. They were looking through the rear window and laughing like crazy. I hope they remember and are haunted by the memory when they are 40 years old and life pisses on them.

Anyway, I laughed at the crazy situations because I was so wet that my shoes were literally filled with water. If there had been a goldfish in the puddle, that would have been in my shoe as well.

RonH

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I'll bring in an old pair of sneakers and leave them here.

Ron

JonR

If possible, stuff torn-up, wadded-up old newspapers into the wet shoes, and change the paper every half hour or so. It makes a big difference in how fast they will dry, and that will in turn prolong their life.

LittleBigMan

Ron,

How about that rain this morning?

I started out as it was coming down "in sheets."

It's like diving off the high dive for the first time: after you do it once, it gets easier to do. I like giving motorists something to puzzle their puzzler 'till their puzzler is sore...

Anyway, Ron, like everyone else has concurred, I keep a spare pair of dry shoes (and dry clothes) to change into. Like Jonny R said, put something absorbent into the wet shoes to dry them out. I did that today (with towels) and my shoes were only slightly damp when I left for home later.

But you don't have to follow the crowd! Do it your way! Drive whenever you like, it's not a crime! (No one in Atlanta will ever think twice about it! ) I drive too (I'm only telling you this because I trust you as a bike-friend!)

Chris L

I got a similar thing as I left university at about 8.30pm last night. It started just as I started. Of course, it's good old fate holding off and trying to upset us by raining on us. Fate doesn't realise that SOME OF US LOVE RIDING IN THE RAIN!!!

Radfahren uber alles.

Chris

LittleBigMan

Like swimming, only better.

JonR

One of the memorable moments of my (granted, rather dull) life was the first time I rode in heavy rain--in an Army field jacket, on my mountain bike, from my apartment to the bank 3 miles away downtown.

I was completely soaked to the skin, but what surprised me was that the ride was pleasant and easy! Having no experience, I expected to be (1) terrified, (2) unable to go more than a block, (3) crash, or (4) all the above. Instead, I was exhilirated.

As I've said before, the main thing now that keeps me from riding in the rain is the need to keep my bikes dry because of the money situation.

But display lights front and back, be watchful, test the brakes during the first couple of blocks, and riding in the rain is a joy.

jramsey

I too love riding in the rain. People at work, and elsewhere, always ask me about it, or they have comments. "Did you drive today?" "You're gonna get soaked on the way home."

Responses: "Uh, no." "Yeah, what's your point."

To date, I haven't had too much trouble with my shoes being too soaked. As of this Monday, however, I have newer shoes that are not boots. I will probably wear some different shoes for riding and pack my work shoes in cargo.

I would also agree that you're probably better off letting the shoes get wet from the outside with rain, than from the inside with salty sweat. Any covering will increase the sweat and more likely pose an odor problem where you don't have a shower.

Jonathan

RonH

Thanks for the idea of stuffing towels or newspapers in the wet shoes. Sounds good to me.

Pete,
As I said in my original post I drove yesterday. Yet I don't know why. Running from the parking lot to the front door I got SOAKED. I probably wouldn't have gotten much wetter riding my bike.
At least my work clothes would have been drier stuffed into my panniers.
I guess I'll tough it out next time and not drive.

Ron