Rain!

The complaining tadpole

Here goes - Alarm goes off at 5am, get out of bed ,look outside - absolutely humping down with rain :x Previously I would have gone back to bed & took the car in later.
BUT as we are looking to sell our second car & the fact my eldest daughter has a golf lesson booked for this afternoon I decide to bite the bullet & ride in ( 10 Miles ) Obviously got totally soaked but on the whole not too bad. Feel like I've come of age as a ` proper commuter ' now

Now for the 6 day a week commute ( Best so far is 5 - usually 3 or 4! )

CiB

Rain is fun (sometimes).

One of the best rides home I had last year was when it had been lashing down for a good hour before I set off for home and showed no signs of letting up. You can't get any wetter than soaked and that had happened in the first half mile so the rest was no worse. I can't put my finger on why, but it was the most fun on the bike I've had in yonks. It was warm rain though, which might have swayed it a bit.

iain_j

Best for me was the "summer" before last when it hardly stopped raining for 2 months. One evening riding home, it was lovely and warm so I didn't bother with my jacket. Only a couple of minutes up the road I felt the tell-tale spots, but thought, ah I've got a tailwind and it's only ten-fifteen minutes home, might as well try and out-run it.

So rather than stop to put my jacket on and let the rain catch me up, I put the hammer down. I was ok for about five minutes until it caught me up. A fireman's hose would have had nothing on that downpour that evening. The roads went from dry to a couple of inches of surface water in seconds. And on I went, in shorts and thin summer jersey, no jacket, grinning ear to ear as I churned on through the deluge. Still no point putting my jacket on cos I'd only get wet stopping to do so. Needless to say I was wet when I got home.

sarajoy

Rain from above nice and heavy is fairly amusing! I cycled throughout summer 2007 which was incredibly rainy, had waterproofs on most days as I wasn't cycling far enough to have cycle-specific gear.

It's when it's cold, windy, slanty rain with a bit of sleet that it's miserable

davbay

I applaud your resilience.

Me and my mrs are planning on getting rid of our second car to make life easier. It'll mean my commuting life becomes harder and less 'flexible' - i'll have to bloody ride whatever weather or get the bus (not the most convenient). My commute is about the same distance on country roads. I'm waiting till I get a good winter/ wet weather bike till I get rid of the car cos' rain has hammered my roadbike.

All the best with it mate.

The complaining tadpole

Cheers for that Davbay, at the moment I'm riding my cheapy e-bay hybrid :oops: only cos its got mudguards. Currently mulling over whether or not to put guards on my nice new
SCR 1.5. I know its practical to do so but what will it look like!

brixtonbiker66

"The greater the suffering, the greater the pleasure. That is nature's payback to riders for the homage they pay her by suffering. Velvet pillows, safari parks, sunglasses; people have become woolly mice. They still have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a desert of snow, without food, but they accept praise for having taken a one-hour bicycle ride. 'Good for you.' Instead of expressing their gratitude for the rain by getting wet, people walk around with umbrellas. Nature is an old lady with few friends these days, and those who wish to make use of her charms, she rewards passionately."

- Tim Krabbé, "The Rider"

The complaining tadpole

Fair enough I'll remember that next time it's p***ing down

Christophe3967

Sealskin socks, neoprene overshoes and winter shoes e.g Shimanos will keep your feet dry in pretty much anything for an hour. Endura bib tights, good gloves and jacket and there's no need to suffer at all.

The complaining tadpole

Christophe, I've got winter/wet weather kit, it's just that I've been a bit of a pansy about the whole rain thing! Now I've taken the plunge ( so to speak ) I realise it's not the disaster I'd anticipated. Feel a bit silly about the whole thing now :oops:

Stupid thing is I would think nothing about spending 4 1/2 Hours out on the golf course in
similar weather.

soy_sauce

im glad you did it. some of my workmates don't understand why i commute to work when it rainning really heavily but as you said, it actually not bad. i did that the second days when i got my bike back in Sept last year which it was also my second day of commuting.

wgwarburton

The complaining tadpole wrote:

...look outside - absolutely humping down with rain ... ...I decide to bite the bullet & ride in ... Obviously got totally soaked ...

Forgive me pointing out the obvious, but arn't you an amphibian....?

Cheers,
W.

iain_j

Brixtonbiker - love the quote! So true. It does annoy me a bit when people at work seem so amazed that I still ride to work in the cold/wind/rain. Big deal! Humans *can* survive in those conditions!

sarajoy

It's quite cool being given props for cycling in on grim days, mind

The other thing is I get so hot and bothered, that often rain is a welcome addition to cool me down!

iain_j

Maybe I'd appreciate it if it was a long commute in driving rain and headwind, but it's only 3.5 miles for me.

And yes, I have considered getting a different house or job to lengthen the commute

The complaining tadpole

Well spotted! But I'll let you in on a secret. I'm not really a tadpole :shock:



But I was once

whyamihere

Warm rain is brilliant, I love it. If it ever rains on a hot day in summer, you can guarantee I'll have grabbed a bike and launched myself out the door.

Yesterday was miserable though. Pouring rain, wind strong enough that I was having to pedal hard downhill and cold.

A - W

I love cycling in the rain, since we've not had any for a while I've been willing it to rain for a change to the freezing mornings.

Mudguards are the bit that counts though, When commuting before without I didn't enjoy the spray from my own wheels.

I have had the same comments at work though asking why I cycle in the cold/wind/rain even snow.

lost_in_thought

ChrisInBicester wrote:

I can't put my finger on why, but it was the most fun on the bike I've had in yonks. It was warm rain though, which might have swayed it a bit.

+1

I really enjoy riding in the rain. There's something about the sheer silliness of it that I enjoy - I could easily have taken the tube, but for some reason here I am absolutely saturated on a bike.

I also think it awakens that inner child who wants to jump in the puddles.

I had fun last night, once the rain stopped hurting me!

jimmypippa

brixtonbiker66 wrote:

"The greater the suffering, the greater the pleasure. That is nature's payback to riders for the homage they pay her by suffering. Velvet pillows, safari parks, sunglasses; people have become woolly mice. They still have bodies that can walk for five days and four nights through a desert of snow, without food, but they accept praise for having taken a one-hour bicycle ride. 'Good for you.' Instead of expressing their gratitude for the rain by getting wet, people walk around with umbrellas. Nature is an old lady with few friends these days, and those who wish to make use of her charms, she rewards passionately."

- Tim Krabbé, "The Rider"

Slightly off topic butthis youtube film "Snow" (1963) Copyright now owned by the British Film Institue is pretty striking.

Look at the people clearing the snowdrifts, and notice their lack of gloves....

cjcp

Being from Wales, you kinda got used to it.

Big Wib

WGWarburton wrote:

The complaining tadpole wrote:

...look outside - absolutely humping down with rain ... ...I decide to bite the bullet & ride in ... Obviously got totally soaked ...

Forgive me pointing out the obvious, but arn't you an amphibian....?

Cheers,
W.

sheer brilliance

LMAO

jimmypippa

It's snowing at the moment

Cycling Dave

This is a great thread. I love the quote as well, it just fills me with inspiration. But it's good to see everyone shares the frustration of being the only sane people in their work; because the only sane thing to do on a rainy summer day is to ride a bike in it.
Lost in Thought sums it up though. if I could ride in wellies and a plastic mac I absolutely would.

The Chingford Skinhead

Don't mind the rain at all - but...

- not when it is the pierce the skin fireman's hose cold stuff
- not when it is the fine mist stuff. Big blobs or rain roll off the glasses, the mist means I have to stop every few yards to clear the view!

It isn't the rain that bothers me - it's the blasted wind. Give me rain everyday if it meant I experienced less cross and head winds

DiggingDeeper

Whilst not wishing it to rain, I am not a real fan of the rain to be honest, but I have fitted different brake blocks with grooves in the shed the water.

It will be interesting to see if they work better than the last standard ones. Once you are out in the rain for 5 mins or so you just get on with it. I am glad I have mudguards on the commuter, it makes it so much more bearable.

DomPro

The Chingford Skinhead wrote:

It isn't the rain that bothers me - it's the blasted wind. Give me rain everyday if it meant I experienced less cross and head winds

Completely agree. A strong headwind can be really demoralising.

iain_j

I don't mind wind, rain or cold, by themselves. Any combination of 2 or more I don't like (not counting tailwinds of course).