jeneralist 

The plan was to ride up a hill or two -- not much in the way of mileage, but a lot (for me) in terms of verticality. I live by the river; my grocery store is on the aptly named "Ridge Road", so saying that we were going to go pick up a can of coconut milk to serve with dinner tonight (red lentil coconut curry, yum!) was really a cover story.

Of course, the weather has been teasing us this weekend. Here in the Philadelphia area, the sky is blue for an hour or two, and just when you have enough confidence to venture outside, the sky opens.

Phil and I looked at the blue sky, got our helmets, got our pannier, got our water bottles -- and just as we opened the door, it began to drizzle.

I thought about it for a minute. I mean, I wouldn't have lost any face by saying, "We should wait for this to blow over." But instead, I grabbed my jacket and my shower cap (to go over my helmet, dontcha know) and looked at Phil. He looked back, smiling.

As we went up the first, more gradual hill, the rain was coming in buckets. Passing cars were kind, giving us a four foot margin to avoid splashing us. My Canari "rain jacket" kept me from feeling the impact of each raindrop, and then clung sodden to my skin.

Made the turn to the next hill. Phil was out in the distance somewhere. I stopped to suck wind. The rain had already stopped, but the cars were still splashing.

I stopped twice on this course -- considering I had stopped 4 times the day before yesterday, it was a Big Deal. And this time I did not "reward" myself at the top with frozen custard.

Up and down and 'round in town, splashing in puddles on the trail just so we could: 5 miles.

Proving to myself that I don't melt in the rain: priceless.

WonderMonkey

I really like riding in the raid, something peaceful about it, especially at night. Another thing you can think about is how many people wouldn't have done it. Yet you did.

CraigB

Good for you. I don't mind getting caught in a bit of rain, and I also have a Canari rain jacket (the high-viz yellow/green one) just for such things, but I find rain riding unpleasant enough that if it's raining at the start, and it looks like it's going to continue, I'm hard-pressed to go on out into it. Today, in fact, I was planning to ride the Morse Lake Metric, about 40 minutes north of my house, but it was raining when I got up, and there was no question it was going to keep raining all day (it's still raining now, at 8:45 PM). I just couldn't get myself to pack up the bike and go get sodden for a few hours. So instead, I worked on installing picture molding in the basement office.

socalrider

Riding in the rain is fine, if you get one item, a quick release rear fender will help keep your butt dry.. Takes about 30 seconds to install and make the rain rides a little more fun..

Neil_B

I was going to ride a 30 mile route today, but my companion told me Reading was getting pelted. We rescheduled. We are both touring cyclists, so we'll ride in the rain when we have to. No reason to do it UNLESS we have to. :-)

jeneralist 

On the tour I've done -- GAP/C&O -- I went the whole week without so much as a drop of rain. This was the first time I found out how my gear holds up in the rain. Ortlieb pannier? Just fine, everything stayed dry. Jersey, jacket, etc? Well, in temps over 75 degrees, maybe I don't want the extra warmth that water-repellancy usually brings. But I'll want to find something better than what I've got....

wiredfoxterror

I have a short sleeve Glen Echo golfer's rain pull over shirt/jacket/pullover that I put on when it rains. It has a breathable liner. I don't care if my arms get wet, and it doesn't kill me in the heat.

indyfabz

Four of us weren't deterred by the threat of spotty showers on Saturday and set off on a gorgeous 71 mile ride with 4,500 ft, of climbing in central Jersey. We got sprinkled on lightly for about 10 min. around mile 25. Slowed us down a little, but nothing major. By the time we reached the food stop at the midway point, the roads were dry. The GF and I ended up finishing 35 min. ahead of the other couple, who we watied for at the finish. Just as they were about the reach the parking lot, there was a brief, mild downpour. When it was all over, I was happy I didn't let the possibility of rain ruin a ride I love so much.

magohn

This thread makes me chuckle a little. In the PNW we have had a total of (if I remember correctly) 7 days WITHOUT rain since the beginning of the year. It has been brutal this year. Its so bad that my helmet is constantly cold and wet when I go for a ride. I ride every other day and the gear just cant dry in time. My last ride had the heavy rain running down my legs and squirting out of the "air-holes" in the sole of my cleats. I have to lube the bikes as the rain washes away the chain-lube big time. I guess my point is the "fun" of riding in the rain soon wears off....

iqbal624

Whoa whoa. That's a little bit of an exaggeration...

I know I've had more than 7 sunny riding days and I don't ride everyday...
I actually don't like riding in the rain but think I have no choice.

Go yellow/green canari!!

Neil_B

Paying my dues:

magohn

Whoops - typo - should read 27. Still, that's close to 4 out of every 5 days its raining around here....somehow the 27 doesnt make it feel much better ...

https://www.komonews.com/weather/blog...121673659.html

JimF22003

Based on the forecast, I feel I really lucked out this last weekend. I did a century ride in Mathews VA that was calling for 60% chance of rain, and never even got a sprinkle. Rode 55 miles on Skyline Drive on Sunday, and only got rained on for about five miles. I had a PI rain shell with me, so I put it on and it was fine. Only casualty was my soaked shoes. Could have been much worse.

Now this WEEK looks to be a near-total washout. Luckily for me I'm on jury duty