First rainy commute today - a thank you
 

Always left the bike at home when it was raining, reading this forum helped me realize that what was stopping me was mostly mental. Rode the 5 city miles in a decent rain, got to work, changed and was a few minutes early. The feeling of putting on dry clothes was awesome.

Thanks for the indirect motivation, it was actually kinda fun :thumb:

Live in the PacNW you have no option but to ride in the rain. I admit the first 15 days of riding in the rain was fun. Then it starts to wear on you. Especially when it goes from rain to Hurricane.

Glad you enjoyed yourself.

I mean it wasn't like a nice 75° sunny ride, but not nearly as bad as I thought it'd be. I had to psych myself up for it.

rain i dont mind. wind on the other hand.....

Good job! Most of what we endure on the bike is mental. Unless there's 25 MPH wind, and temps are below freezing AND it's snowing/raining.... I wouldn't blame you for wussing out on days like that.

What if you're a rider who pushes the pace during a commute. I'd think if i were to ever ride in the rain i'd get really sick cause my commute is also my workout. Just a thought? :p

Not in my experience of it. Why should pushing the pace in the rain make me any more likely to get sick than taking it easy? :speedy:

I think that if you push the pace so hard that you risk getting sick (rain or not) then you are way past any health benefits of exercise.

I hate rain, but for some reason I mind riding in it much less than I mind running in it.

I just can't get motivated to ride in the rain. Here its usually blowing too if its a warm summer rain thats not so bad but those cold crapppy days from October to June just ain't my cup of tea. I don't mind riding in the cold at all cause I warm up after about a mile.

I kind of like riding in the rain, it's the cleaning up afterwards that keeps me from doing it more. Have you riden in the dark in the rain and watched the spray splash in the headlight?

Yeah I've watched that its kinda cool but like you say the cleanup afterwards in unappealing at best

Was I supposed to clean something up????

The snow makes a bigger flash in the headlight.

Rain on a warm day can feel quite liberating...but rain and wind can wear you down

I like riding in the rain as long as it isn't sleeting and making for a dangerous ride.

I don't think there's ever a time where rain is alone. Wind is always there and will always be there besides those rare days. Wind and rain mixed with warm sweaty biker = cold for me when temperatures aren't above 75 degrees.

I like rain riding much better than snow riding. But when I started bike commuting I was apprehensive about rainy day riding until I was caught in a summer rainstorm. After that it wasn't a big deal to ride on rainy days. Even in November when the rain is icy cold, as long as I'm wearing decent raingear I'm comfy. It takes getting use to it.

Next winter I'll work on snow riding.

Congrats on your first rainy ride!

Today wasn't my favourite ride, but at 10C, 50 kph winds gusting to 80kph while raining, I still rode to and from work. I've taken the mentality of checking the weather in the morning and, regardless of the weather, saying "too bad" to myself. Personally, I need commuting by bike to be a habit to keep me riding every day. I do enjoy it a great deal, even when it rains, though!

And yet, wimping out on your commute--and thus no workout at all--is just fine?

I was a fair weather commuter for a lot of years. I missed a lot of days riding because even if there was a slight chance of rain I would drive. However only about 10% of the time it would actually rain.

So far i've been a year round commuter for about 2 years now.