Rain is for ducks NOT for Road Cycling

NWLondoner

Damn I had my first wet weather ride today.

I wanted to do over 40 miles but could only hack 20.

It was horrible, being wet wasn't too bad but the glasses covered with rain droplets plus completely misting up everytime I stopped at red lights.

Also NOT being able to see the pot holes, manholes , etc., as they were covered with water made it even worse and WHY do car drivers drive even closer to you in the rain???

Maybe A & B roads would be fine but Central London roads and rain do not mix.

Oh well fingers crossed for Thursday and Friday. Need some more miles under my belt for Bikeathon.

Doobz

yea, I must say i don't like the rain that much but I guess you just have to brave the elements
if you want to get any miles in.

redddraggon

I don't mind rain too much, but I don't like getting cold. I went out this morning wearing too little.

Doobz

I wish I could go out but this 6 day week at work sucks ass - Luckilly I have been able to ride for 30 miles or so when I get home ..

simon johnson

Cycling in the rain with glasses on is no fun.

NWLondoner

simon johnson wrote:

Cycling in the rain with glasses on is no fun.

Sods law wear them and only get about 50% vision or forget them and get blinded :shock:

NWLondoner

redddraggon wrote:

I don't mind rain too much, but I don't like getting cold. I went out this morning wearing too little.

i can cope with the cold. As long as it is above 2'c i'm fine. Just wear a few layers. It's my shaven head that freezes.

shazzz

NWLondoner wrote:

simon johnson wrote:

Cycling in the rain with glasses on is no fun.

Sods law were them and only get about 50% vision or forget them and get blinded :shock:

My glasses are prescription lenses so I have no choice! Wearing a cycling cap really helps.

simon johnson

Mine are prescription too. I'm blind without 'em and therefore a liability to myself and other road users in the rain, there's got to be some invention out there to stop droplets forming or at least some wee windscreen wipers!

....yes, the cycling cap does help some,

meagain

Wet's OK, as long as a bike with 'grds. Got caught out this a.m. on a bike without any. Horrible. I hate sitting in a pool of water!

Just ride according to the conditions - black/sheet ice is the only really nasty. TBH if one can't so adjust, then shouldn't be on two wheels.

Mark Alexander

There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad preparation/clothing

yea, right

Lagavulin

I'd rather be warm and wet than cold and dry. I went out this morning a little after 5. Spesh winter bib longs kept my legs lovely and warm but summer socks and short-sleeved jersey weather it was not.

My main gripe with wet weather cycling it all the extra post-ride stuff I inevitably need to do e.g. my Allez's brakes seem to want to hug the rims after they've been out in a heavy downpour.

Not Another Hill

To stop your glasses misting up, you need to put a little drop of washing up liquid on the inside of your lenses and smear it round and then polish it off with a dry cloth. An old motorcycling tip.

wastelander

I'd kill to be able to ride and get wet...currently sat in an ice rink covering U12's in a 2 day hockey tournament as an event photographer - one of 4 this month...no weekends for me!!! Still...snapping Def Leppard/Whitesnake on Monday...it's a hard job 8)

simon johnson

Not Another Hill wrote:

To stop your glasses misting up, you need to put a little drop of washing up liquid on the inside of your lenses and smear it round and then polish it off with a dry cloth. An old motorcycling tip.

Thankyou, I will try this one....

TheGreatGatsby

I actually quite like cycling in the rain. It definitly sucks if its cold windy AND raining though. But like it is today warm and wet I should imagine that its quite pleasant out in the lanes - less traffic at least. That said it wouldn't stop me riding if it was hashing down monsoon style - once you're wet you're wet, best just to get on with it and look forward to a nice hot girlfriend when you get in from the 80miler!

Gats

NWLondoner

Not Another Hill wrote:

To stop your glasses misting up, you need to put a little drop of washing up liquid on the inside of your lenses and smear it round and then polish it off with a dry cloth. An old motorcycling tip.

thanks i'll try that

NWLondoner

Lagavulin wrote:

I'd rather be warm and wet than cold and dry. I went out this morning a little after 5. Spesh winter bib longs kept my legs lovely and warm but summer socks and short-sleeved jersey weather it was not.

.

NOW you tell me :roll:

Me baggy shorts with padded lycra liners and short sleeve jersey.

TBH i had no problem with being wet it was the conditions that i hated.

Lagavulin

Yeah, sorry about that. Isn't hindsight great.

I thought about going back for thicker socks, arms warmers and/or a baselayer but decided against it. Reckon if I'd gone back upstairs there's a fair chance I'd of jumped back into bed. :oops:

NWLondoner

Lagavulin wrote:

Yeah, sorry about that. Isn't hindsight great.

I thought about going back for thicker socks, arms warmers and/or a baselayer but decided against it. Reckon if I'd gone back upstairs there's a fair chance I'd of jumped back into bed. :oops:

LOL it started to rain just as i left.

I thought sod it, if i turn back now i may stay in and watch the rugby.


I still made it back in time for the Rugby :shock: I'd rather get wet again then watch that performance.

buspassman

God, some of you London lot are softies. I live in South West Wales, and I reckon that over the many years I have commuted to work I get wet on average one in 4 rides, with continuous rain for the whole trip on one in 8 rides. Just get on with it, and as someone else said, adequate preparation will see you right. Unless you are totally immersed, I've never heard of anyone dying because they got wet.

fto-si

46 miles in the rain today .. loved every minute .. apart from sitting on grass verge changing innertubes!
if your dressed right then its really not uncomfortable. my previous 3 years of cycling i whimped out of wet riding but this year changed my outlook and have added 100s of miles to this years total.
Just get out there and enjoy!

st68

did 60miler cant say i liked it but want gonna let the rain break me unfortunately it did break my brakes though which started turning to paste

nickwill

Today is only the 3rd Sunday I've missed doing a long ride since the beginning of January. It will also be the first I've missed for bad weather. It's blowing a gale out there and the only time the heavy rain stops it's replaced by downpours. It feel most unnatural to be contemplating a Sunday at home doing domestic chores, and trying to remember what it's like to be a family man. I keep telling myself it will do me good and that 'rest' is important, but I know that by this afternoon I will be climbing the walls!

Lagavulin

Wind is mental here today and it's forecast to get worse. Went out on my MTB for a couple of hours this morning and averaged all of 8.3mph. I might as well have gone for a sodding walk!! Insane monsson-style downpour about 9:30 but it must have lasted all of 3 minutes. Wind so strong it simply blew over. Personally I think June has been a pile of shite so far.

nolf

I went on a cafe run yesterday and this poor woman turned up in just s/s jersey and lycra shorts. Meant she was a bit chilly at the start, but the weather was allright until we got to the cafe. Unfortunately the heavens opened and started tipping it down, so I lent her my coat as I had arm warmers/knee warmers so wasn't too cold.

Bless her, but next time she'll almost certainly remember to bring a coat.

mrushton

Doobz wrote:

yea, I must say i don't like the rain that much but I guess you just have to brave the elements
if you want to get any miles in.

I was in the Alps last week and it was v.wet/cold. Descending a mountain with five layers on - but no overshoes is not fun altho' one of the group touched 80kph :shock: Of course at the bottom, the rain had stopped and it was then necessary to get rid of the layers. The last day was v.wet and reminded me why I try NOT to go out in the rain. Soft-a***d I know but it just becomes a grim(e) slog.

shockedsoshocked

The rain wasn't an issue for me, just the bloody wind. Pedalling to keep at 20mph on a downhill road where i'd normally push 35 is no fun at all.

musttriharder

Do you guys cycle your good bikes in the rain? If you dry and oil your chain is the rain all that bad for a bike or would I be better off cycling on my old hack bike in the rain.

a_n_t

i've just ordered a ribble winter bike so i can ride in the summer!

geoff_ss

musttriharder wrote:

Do you guys cycle your good bikes in the rain? If you dry and oil your chain is the rain all that bad for a bike or would I be better off cycling on my old hack bike in the rain.

I don't race any longer so my good bike has mudguards and a carrier so it's not a problem for me. However, although I had many almost enjoyable wet rides in the past, I'm definitely a fair weather cyclist now.

A couple of us, frustrated by normal Lake District Christmas weather, once rode round Ullswater from Patterdale YHA on mountain bikes in torrential rain. I think what made it bearable was the knowledge that a hot shower and a good drying room was waiting for us when we got back. It was very windy, too and I stayed about a foot off my mate's back wheel on the road section back from Pooley Bridge; he was a LOT stronger than me

The there was the 'wet' Elenith 300km in 1988ish ...

Geoff