I found out Saturday during the ride home that a windvest doesn't do much for you when it's raining.

While I don't much like commuting in the rain, there is an incredible sense of badassness that comes with riding in a downpour when everyone is shaking their heads. Some of my biggest smiles did occur on these types of rides. Fenders or not!

My first "real" (non-club) race was 105 miles in a rain that started the evening before. Solid rain. We had nothing dry at two hours, nothing. Riding beside a river, we all had the same thought. We could swerve to the right and not get any wetter. After the race, we discussed what tires tasted best. And every bush in the park at the finish had at least two cyclists behind emptying their bladders.

My bottom bracket had no grease at all after. Except for the rust, clean as a whistle.

Ben

Going hiking in the rain, I hope the ground isn't to slick.....;)

My five mile ride to the train station is long enough for me to get thoroughly drenched if it's raining hard enough, and while I don't really mind that, sitting on a commuter train for an hour in sopping wet clothes, especially if the air conditioning is going, is no fun at all. I have tried a lot of different rain gear solutions, and have never found one that really works. I pretty much try to avoid it now.

On the way home, I don't mind. I get wet... then I get home... no big deal.

Where (on your body) and how(does the rain get in) when you are riding in rain gear?

i ride a lot in the rain, and I virtually never get wet from the rain. My commute has intense hills, so sometimes I get pretty sweaty. Also, I MTB a lot in the rain, and mostly get sweaty, not wet from the rain.

It's not really a matter of rain getting through or around the gear. The problem occurs when I get to my bike locker at the train station; I put the bike in the locker, and now I'm standing in the parking lot by the train station, wearing all my rain gear. Now what should I do?
1. I could take the rain gear off at the locker, in the rain, and put the wet rain gear in the locker with the bike, and hope it somehow dries off by the time I get back, some nine or ten hours later; grab my umbrella and get on the train. Not a good option if it's really raining, because I get wet before I get on the train.
2. I could get on the train in all my rain gear, and take it off on the train, and hang it from the luggage rack on the train and let it dry there.
3. The hybrid option: put plastic grocery bags over my shoes, tuck the tops of the bags into the bottom of the rain pants. At the locker, I put the rain pants over the handlebar of the bike to drip dry, and I get on the train in my rain jacket and plastic bags still on my shoes. I discard the plastic bags on the train. This is what I usually do if it's raining really hard.
4. I could take an umbrella from the locker, go inside the train station, take off my rain gear there, dry it there, fold it up and put it in a bag of some kind, then walk back to the bike locker under the umbrella, put the rain gear in the locker, and then get on the train. I never do this.
5. I could just say to heck with it, it's not raining that hard, I'll just ride in the rain and get on the train a little wet. I do this pretty often.
6. I could just stay home. I think I've done this twice this calendar year; not too bad, I think.

Got it!

is the locker big enough to hang the clothes away from the bike? Are you the only person using the locker (so you could leave some stuff in it, like an umbrella)?

Sounds like interesting challenges to solve.

The locker is a triangular space -- that is, a long rectangle with a door on both ends, and a plywood partition that runs through it on the diagonal. Bike goes in rear wheel first, so the front wheel is right up against the door, with the handlebar a little farther back. So yes, I can put my rain pants over the handlebar. Come to think of it, I'm going to edit my list -- I forgot the 'hybrid' option.

It's pretty nice! I've had this locker for fifteen years now, and really my only complaint is that it's not under a roof of any kind. Long ago I put a hook on the plywood partition, from which I hang an umbrella; and there's a milk crate into which I toss my helmet. I used to keep a jacket in there, too.

It sounds like you're wearing regular clothes for the ride, with a lot of rain gear to keep them dry? I'd be tempted to change into work clothes at the station and leave everything else there. You don't need quite as robust rain gear that way. But if not have you considered rolling the rain gear up in a bath towel? Everything gets to about the same level of damp, but not really wet.

Yes... that is a good solution. I should add, though, I don't have to dress up for my job. I'm not wearing a business suit or anything like it. If I get to my office a little wet and a little rumpled, that's fine.

What we all take away from most of these threads, I think, is the variety of solutions we bike commuters adopt. My commute appears to be pretty much unique, like my job, and like my bikes. I've been doing this long enough to know the best solution to the problem, sometimes, is to just ignore the problem entirely. What? It's raining? Oh, yes, look at that! That explains all the water.

A few weeks ago I had a nice tailwind on my commute home. Then about 4 miles out the wind suddenly shifted to a head/cross wind, temperature dropped rapidly, and a sudden thunderstorm with pea-size hail came up. It was all super sudden. That hail stung! I normally like riding in the rain on a hot day, but that time it just sucked.

Walking barefoot in the rain outside is also awesome. Bare feet dry WAYYY quicker than do wet socks and shoes. Sometimes I wish I could be barefoot on the bike, if I didn't want to be attached to the pedals. ;)

SPD sandals. I just got a pair (of the cheap Nashbar variety) and they're great! :thumb:

Yeah I know, I just don't really care for how most of them look.

I too, to the amazement of many, enjoy the occasional rainy ride home in Austin. I use a rain cape, gaiters, and waterproof shoes to keep dry on the ride toward the office, though.

+1 ... come up north, we got more fun in the winter for ya!

I'm thinking we should combine this Commuting in the Rain thread with the Do You Really Need to Shower thread. :p

Note that they don't have elastic in the leg cuffs, so you'll probably want a couple of those reflective slap bracelets to keep them away from your chain. Probably not a bad idea anyway, since FTs tend to be earth tones rather than hi-viz.

I think the last good drencher on the morning commute was also the last time I didn't feel the need to birdbath my crotch and armpits while changing. Maybe I need to mount a bottle of that camp soap that doubles as shampoo so I can just douse myself a few times in the middle of the ride next time it rains hard enough.