What I learned from my first downpour commute
 

Been bicycle commuting since August. Had a few light rain commutes, but got my first "gully washer" today. Lessons learned: 1. As I look out my office window and notice that the rain has let up, I should not think that it is going to be like that on the ride home. 2. I need waterproof gloves for cold, wet commutes. 3. Ankle high rubber boots don't do much good when streets turn into rivers. 4. Thick wool socks are not warm when soaked in cold water. 5. The shower cap over the bike helmet may look dorky, but it sure beats cold rain running down the back of my neck. (Thanks to whoever on BF gave me that idea.) 6. Thinking about my cold, wet feet does not make them warmer. I might as well just think happy thoughts...like the loving wife, hot drink and warm meal waiting for me at home.

That kind of discomfort can make things at home seem that much better for sure!

Picture a large glass of beer. That always makes the ride go faster.

I enjoy riding in the rain with fenders and the right equipment.
For gloves I recommend neoprene, fleece lined fishing gloves.
For feet, Showers pass shoe covers. They go above your ankles, and rain pants over the shoe covers, so feet stay dry.

Suck it up and pedal on....but good gear is a plus...I always check the weather radar in the loop format of course!

Ive added a Cycle rain cape, to my gear, as they drape over the hands , they stay dry..
shelters your legs some,
when the rain goes horizontal..
I wear rain-pants, and some rubber Bean boots.

a helmet cover should complete the kit.. bike does need mudguards, of course..

I actually enjoy riding in the rain now. My instinct after my first wet wet ride was to start shopping for some waterproof gear everywhere. Now I know better.

God, reading that made me feel wet and cold. Ha!

I just rode home in the rain. It wasn't that cold so it was nice actually. I did get pretty much soaked, but not all the way through to my base layers. I found a spiderman ski mask at a garage sale that came in handy tonight.

Thanks for the ideas. I think that I am well set up for cold and rain except for the wet hands and feet. I'm going to try fishing gloves for the hands. My wife suggested using elastic bands (as in really big rubber bands) around the cuffs of the rain pants to keep them sealed against the boots. The problem there was not the water coming down from above. It was the water coming up from below since I had to ride through some deep run-off. Since we are in drought conditions, I don't expect that to happen too often.

SealSkinz gloves and socks will keep your hands and feet warm and dry, and when your extreme extremities (hands and feet) are dry it helps keep your core warm.

I love riding in the rain. I dump my iPhone in a Pelican Case i1080

http://www.carryitcases.com.au/assets/thumbL/i1015C.jpg

plug in my headphones and crank. I dont worry about wet feet, I have newspaper to stuff in the shoes at work, as well as a spare pair of socks.

I have a shell, long-sleeved shirt, and t-shirt, gloves, beanie, bike sorts, outer shorts for when it gets a little colder. When it gets as cold a it gets here I have long cycling pants.

I get wet, but luckily I have a strange genetic quirk, my skin is waterproof.

z

Thank you for the report. Sounds like you had fun! :D If it's any consolation, wet wool socks are still warmer than wet socks of any other material I can think of.

Do you keep the cape on when you get off the bike? I have to wait at an uncovered bus stop in the afternoons some days. I like the idea of a cape for the increased ventilation though. My rain jacket

http://www.bicycleclothing.com/Water...n-Jackets.html

didn't leak yesterday evening but I still sweated quite a bit, even with the really good pit vents. It was dumping so much rain that my goretex rain pants couldn't breath at all, so even my legs were sweaty. I was still pretty comfortable though, so I guess that's the main thing.

Don't ask how I know it was sweat and not the pants leaking....

After all these years, i have learnt that it is futile to try and stay dry in down pour. Instead, accept the rain, and enjoy it ! I don't wear socks. Never bother to keep the shoes dry. Let them get wet. Just keep them in sun and they will get dry. Don't even wear rain pants unless it is very cold (mid to low 30's F). Only a heavy t-Shirt, rain jacket, and rain proof gloves, and NJoy the down pour. Just keep my pannier dry ;-)

Anything above 70 degrees, I don't bother with any rain proofing except my pannier, and change at office. Rather than sweating in rain-jacket, I would rather get wet in rain.

+1 to most of this.

- I like having full fenders to keep the nasty road spray off of me.
- I don't bother with rain gear above 70 degrees
- I really like my rain gear below 50 degrees. I have a Showers Pass Elite 2.0 Jacket and a Showers Pass helmet cover with neck flap, and the combo is awesome. I have Pearl Izumi rain pants. Down to the mid 30's I let my feet get wet - it's still warm enough that it does not bother me. However, I may get some showers pass booties to avoid having to dry my shoes.
- below 30 degrees, the rain is snow, so it isn't as much about waterproofing as it is windproofing.

On the Gloves, membrane in between the knit layers is not long lasting.
so re buying them is just a matter of time in service.

Get yourself a pair of the Showers Pass touring shoe covers. These things can go to war. They're on sale right now, 50% off. Great buy. They won't last. You can get hit with a firehose and they'll keep your feet dry. They make a great addition to your foul weather gear. http://www.showerspass.com/catalog/c...ing-shoe-cover

scoat: just bought some a few days ago. They came tonight! :)

Ordered the Showers Pass touring shoe cover. Now watch it not rain for the rest of the winter!

I'm doing that now as I stare out the window at the rain pouring down....gonna be a great ride home! Rainy ride home and cold homebrew after, life is good.

Will these things fit in cage/straps?

We had most of a month's worth of rain during the morning commute today in the Seattle area. But it was warm for winter rain, low to mid 40s, so I don't bother with dry feet -- I use SPD sandals. They don't have any cloth to absorb water. Bare skin isn't really that bad in the rain, not like wet shoes that just suck the heat out of your body.

There's something wrong with my feet. They get cold when I ride, even in fairly warm temps. If it's below 40 or so I have to wear hiking boots. I have some sandals that I wanted to wear over the summer but the mornings were always too cold so I wore a pair of retired running shoes. I think wet and cold would be worse. I've even had my feet get cold when I was running, but that was a couple of years ago when the temps went down into the single temps.

Keep your core temperature high, groin,neck everything inbetween.