Pick up the pace a little.
Better to get to work a bit sweaty than soaking wet.

Pull my Cycle rain Cape out of my bag and put it on.

cycle capes are cone shaped, ponchos are flat.

with a bit of re-oiling on the chain every few days it's fine..

wipe off excess, so grit won't stick to it..

Can you post the link to the rain cape again please?

Yeah, but since he's in Portland running down the street naked doesn't really draw much attention.

With regard to the original question, it's actually very unusual here in the PNW to have it start raining while you're on your way to work. Generally, it starts raining sometime in October and keeps raining until June or July, so there's really only like one day a year that you might get surprised and not have your rain gear.

I love hearing about what people do to take clean/dry their bike after a wet ride. I might wipe my chain off once every couple of weeks -- usually only when it starts squeaking and I need to re-lube it. I leave my bike out in the rain while I'm at work. I hang it up wet when I get home. It hasn't fallen apart on me yet.

I usually check the weather radar just before leaving and dress accordingly. My commute only takes me 30 minutes or so and if it looks like I'm going to get nailed I wear a pair of cheap rain pants and a Showers Pass waterproof jacket (as mentioned in an earlier post). On occasion, I have packed rain gear and used a washroom at a coffee shop to do a quick change on the fly. I let my chain air dry but make sure I use a good lube that doesn't leach out and check it when I get home at the end of the day.

It was raining this morning on the commute. Steady, but not real hard, and the temps were quite mild (mid 50s F). I wore my water resistant tights (Novara) and an actual rain jacket, which is lighter than the insulated jacket I wear when it gets colder. I didn't even bother with the booties, since it was a relatively light rain. I'm thinking about getting a helmet cover, but it doesn't get uncomfortable until the temps get down to about 40F for me.

I use it as a good excuse to just let it all out. You can't see tears in the rain! Some people look at me weird when I'm sobbing down the street, but I just scream at them about what a good workout this is. Then I feel awkward and cry even harder.

So, I might check my tires for glass and other fragments to prevent flats or dry and re-lube my chain once in a while after riding in the rain... Because I I am mildly OCD :/
However, when ever I hear/read people the dry and clean their bike after riding in the rain, that is just hilarious! I wonder if they also dry and clean their car after driving it in the rain.


Bahahhahah!