Giant Doofus

According to a quick search, Seattle gets about 38 inches of rain across 155 days per year. That's a lot. I live in Memphis where it rains on about 107 days per year, but we get 57 inches of rain per year. In other words, it doesn't rain on as many days, but we still get a lot of rain here. When it rains, it really pours.

I'd say I'm pretty committed to riding in the rain, but two rainy conditions will keep me inside. First, I don't ride in active lightening. Second, I don't ride in blinding rain. Fortunately, my work hours are pretty flexible, so i can usually wait for a downpour to lighten up before heading out.

jrickards

My drop off points are "am I going to be wet and really cold?" along with "will I also be riding home in the rain after putting on cycling clothes/shoes that are still wet from this morning's ride in?"

I have a good cycling raincoat, helmet cover and waterproof lobster mitts but no rain pants and a poor excuse for shoe covers so if it is less than 10C/50F and raining, I won't ride until I add those items to my kit allowing me to stay drier and warmer on both journeys. I can deal with getting wet in mild to warm rain temperatures and I can deal with cold if I am dry (ie., winter snow) but right now, I'm waiting for next fall's purchase of proper commuting rain pants and shoe covers before I will ride in cold rain.

InTheRain

I commute with my bike or scooter everyday. I prefer the bike and I've been riding it 4-5 commutes per week all year. So, I'm committed to riding in the rain. 36 degrees, rain, and wind today made it tough. Add "dark" to the equation for the ride home this evening. It will make me appreciate the 75 degree sunny commutes in July.

Aubergine 

I am in Seattle and I enjoy riding in the rain. But even so, there are days when I just can't get up the energy to get togged up. On those days, I stay home and berate myself for being a wimp. ;-)

When end I lived in San Diego, though, I wouldn't go out in the rain. It was usually pouring when it rained, and people really did not know how to drive safely in wet conditions. Besides, the rain rarely lasted more than a day or two.

Andy_K 

Yep. Portland is like Seattle in this respect. The other thing is that those numbers don't tell you is that we get almost no rain in July and August, so those 155 days are even more dense than you might think. But we almost never get heavy rain like you see in the South. There are days when it just seems like the air is wet. It isn't actually raining but if you ride your bike you get wet from the mist in the air. That's why I usually don't mind it. This month we've had some heavy rains and still kept the constant drizzle in between. We're around 17 inches of rain for the month right now...almost half of our annual average.

PaulRivers

Lol if I remember right, around 2 years ago it was so cold that people were taking a pain of boiling water, stepping outside, throwing it into the air, and taking video of it turning into either ice or snow in the air before it hit the ground.

This year it's been raining all week lol...

Kindaslow

It is a little deceiving in this area. North Bend is probably 20 miles from Seattle and gets 61 inches per year. As you move away from Seattle and toward the hills, the rainfall totals go up. Yet, as others have noted, rarely do we get the extremely heavy rains we have gotten this year. Luckily my rain gear does not care if it is a light or heavy rainfall.

wilfried

Funny you ask, it's pouring right now. I will ride the short three miles home tonight. However, tonight is trivia night, which is 10 miles uptown, and then another 13 miles back down. If I really had to get there, I would take the subway, but since half the fun of trivia is riding there and back, and the train is particularly unpleasant on a rainy night, I decided to give it up. Last Thursday was my day off, and it rained then too (it does always seem to rain on the most inconvenient day). I had some errands to run, a series of short trips. I decided to do that on a bike, and got wet, as that was more convenient that trying to find some other way of getting around.

So that about sums up how committed I am to riding in the rain.

mr geeker

I can't say that I'm overly committed to riding in the rain. Sure, in the morning if its light I'll usually just suck it up, but if its not, well, there's always the bus. And in the evenings I don't really tend to care if it's raining or not, I just don't want to work in soaked clothes all day. For instance, today it was cold (35F) and raining and was expected to be like that all day, but not lightly raining, so I took the bus. Now, if I had proper rain gear I might have rode my poor weather bike any way.

BikingZombie

Cold, rain and snow won't stop me, and today in Mpls we had two of those. It does suck to put wet clothes on at the end of a day, and if it's cold enough it's downright dangerous. I don't mind biking in the rain, even every day in a week, as long as my clothes can dry out.

gregf83 

Being from Vancouver, I'm used to rain. We only get a handful of days a year where it is coming down hard and it almost seems comical to ride. In Dec I've driven about once a week and ridden the rest of the days. It doesn't rain steadily very often so if I get wet in the morning it's often not raining on the way home.

I keep extra socks, tights and gloves at work so if I get soaked I can come home with dry clothes.

I won't ride on the weekend if it's raining.

no motor?

I don't mind the physical discomfort that comes with riding in the rain after riding my motorcycle in the rain for years (I used to tell people it's not a Harley, motorcycles will run in the rain) but with wanting to keep my indoor parking privileges at work and not wanting to mess up the spare bedroom I use to park my bike in I try and avoid riding my bicycle in the rain. I did ride to work last week when I saw it was drizzling after I left and just said the heck with it but usually I don't now.

tjspiel

Yeah, but when's the last time it rained here every day of the work week? 198 sunny days per year and 101 with some measurable precipitation. Our climate sucks in multiple ways but we do get a decent amount of sun and enough rain to keep things mostly green, - or white.

Spring and Fall we might see rain on consecutive days but probably not more than three in a row and in those cases it's usually a pretty light rain, - which is OK.

I realized last week that if I lived someplace where it was likely to rain 5 days straight then I'd need better gloves. Otherwise my clothes are OK.

It was hovering in the low to mid 30's today so we had rain and snow. As I said before, I'll take the snow in these temps over rain any day (except Spring, - don't like snow in Spring).

kickstart

Here in the Puget sound region it's not unusual to have a week or more of rain. The amount of rain in Seattle isn't really significantly more than many other major cities, but is rarely heavy, often more of a falling mist, so it sticks around for a long time with occasional breaks.

RandomEncounter

I live in seattle, and I know what you mean. Last year I rode reliably in the rain, but I've driven to work more often than I've biked over the past few weeks of heavier rain. I've even walked outside with the bike twice, then just noped right back into the house.

PaulH

Around her, massive traffic jams form when it rains. Riding in the rain is not commitment, it's just taking the path of least resistance.

wphamilton

I thought of this thread and decided to drive in today. Trees down, lightning, flooding in places and it's going to go on all day, I can feel my storm-riding commitment fading ...

johnlp37

Kudos to all of you that ride in the rain on a regular basis. I bought fenders this year to handle the handful of rainy days we have here in AZ. I grew up in the PNW and lived in SE Alaska before moving to a drier climate. The challenge here is riding in 100+ degree temps for a hundred days a year, but I'll take it over 35 degrees and raining anytime.

aggiegrads

I use aluminum fenders from Honjo or Velo Orange. They are the only brands that I have found that have front fenders that are long enough to suit me. The front fender must be long enough to nearly touch the ground with a mud flap. This will keep my feet dry and the bike relatively clean. There are many fenders this long, like PB Cascadias and SKS Longboards.

Finding a fender with enough "front extension" is the hard part. I like a fender that extends past the highest vertical peak of the front wheel and starts to curve downward. This assures that the spray is directed downward and not up where I just ride into it.

The other nice thing about aluminum fenders is the rolled edge. Instead of dripping off the sides and onto my feet or rear mech, the runoff generally drips off the front or rear of the fenders. This keeps things much cleaner.

Robert C

I am not committed to riding in the rain; but when it rains I still have to get to work.

MichaelW

How committed is the rain?

38" is a medium amount of rain. In the UK, the S.E gets 20", the SW: 30-40", and NW, 40-60"
When does the rain fall?
In NW, it can rain hard, all day, for days on end. In SE, we get those rainy days once or twice a year, sometimes never.
How frequently and hard does it rain during commuter hours? We seem to get rain in early afternoon, which clears up by 5:00 commute. Rain often falls as light, but steady.

Rain becomes easier to handle if you are equipped with fenders, good waterproofs, rain socks or boots etc. Cool rain is easier than warmer summer rain since you don't overheat. Really cold rain, just above freezing, is horrible but rare. If it is that cold, it is usually dry.

fietsbob

Right On the coast .. the Grundens Cycle rain cape was the best Purchase I've Made ..

Grunden's Bike Poncho (other than a House close in to old town center on the Leeward side of the Hill .

It was really good when I Had a 30min ride from an apartment on the windward side , along the Young's Bay Shore .

The company is well Known by the Fishing community , on the Job. https://www.bethebadger.com/wp-conten...s-Clothing.jpg

Aubergine 

Nice link to the rain cape, fietsbob. Thanks!

RidesaJapanese

I had a feeling the OP would be from the PNW. I was committed to riding in the rain yesterday, it started raining as soon as I left the grocery store parking lot. Bizarre winter so far, no snow or extreme cold yet, so I haven't had to really test myself. My regular wool clothes are more than warm enough for cycling so far.

profstack

Seattle rider here: I've recently committed to becoming a bad-weather-biker. At work I can hang up the wet stuff for the work day. A change of clothes for work from a convenient locker makes it easier to be committed to it.

Tomorrow's Christmas day ride might be in mid 30's temps.