Sod the rain.

MrGeebs

As mountain bikers we should be saying sod the rain, embrace it and ride through the mud but I have to admit it's really p!$$ing me off. All these wonderful light summer evenings going to waste as when I get home from work it's lashing it down, I'm not going out in that. Normally on summer fridays me and my mate take a ride out and stop for a few beers, hopefully in the sun. We take a ride now passing all these beautiful pubs with beer gardens which should be packed on Friday evenings, instead there's just damp wet benches and everyone's at home watching tele. I don't mind a bit of rain when I'm out, sometimes it can even be welcome but all too often I'm cycling in the rain, getting soaked from above and below trying to convince myself I'm having a good time when in fact I'd much rather be home on the sofa. Also, the rain is cutting down my off-road rides, normally we do a bit of road to get to the bridleways and the woods but the rain turns the off-road bits into quagmire's, 2 minutes of that and I look down to see my front mech caked in crud. I found the other night that I did a ride completely on the road, on a mountain bike!! It shouldn't be. So I say, SOD THE RAIN.

Briggo

I said sod it to the rain the other day, it killed my jockey wheels.

.blitz

The weather matters not when you have a hack bike:

100% functional cheap as chips

I've forgotten what it's like to ride in the dry I just take it for granted that it's raining.

mini-eggs

I used to not bother going out when its raining, but now I have 2 kids and got to take every opportunity i get to go for a ride which means I've got to accept riding in the rain.

Invested in some nice waterproof kit so I'm staying mostly dry. The local trails get very mucky and cleaning the bike every time is a bit frustrating. But get out and enjoy it, its all part of mountain biking

Last night I did put it off, the rain was a bit too heavy :oops:

bennett_346

Normally i just man out and ride in the rain but after 175 consecutive wet riding days im getting a bit fed up.

tarbot18

Im off to llandegla in an hour and will be getting rather wet but ive come to expect it now and on the odd occasion it is sunny take it as a pleasant surprise,
plus its only an hour and a half once your wet your wet ...........

lighty89

I dont mind it at first... would prefer it be dry.
But when i'm out and get soaked through (even with waterproofs) I just lose all will lol

jonomc4

bennett_346 wrote:

Normally i just man out and ride in the rain but after 175 consecutive wet riding days im getting a bit fed up.

+1

lighty89

Global Pissing It Down for you

Majski

www.rideportugal.com - that's what I did - a week of sunny, dusty downhill. Mint.

Hope it's dry in Morzine in a fortnight too!

cat_with_no_tail

Going out in the rain is no problem, it's only a bit of water after all.

What DOES bother me about this weather is what it's doing to the state of the trails.

We don't have any nice, manicured trail centres with built in drainage over here, it's natural riding or nothing, and sadly, a lot of our trails drain really badly. Now as a result of about 3 years with no summer to speak of, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find anything thats not completely washed-out, rutted and horrible.

That's another reason I just bought the BMX.

Thewaylander

I live in Wales it's wet, and feeds of my tears of desperation for a dry trail as my bike gets covered in mud

YeehaaMcgee

bennett_346 wrote:

Normally i just man out and ride in the rain but after 175 consecutive wet riding days im getting a bit fed up.

^^This.
I don't mind so much riding to work and back, but setting off on a big ride in the mountains is less than appealing with this constant rain.

ilovedirt

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

bennett_346 wrote:

Normally i just man out and ride in the rain but after 175 consecutive wet riding days im getting a bit fed up.

^^This.
I don't mind so much riding to work and back, but setting off on a big ride in the mountains is less than appealing with this constant rain.

Agreed, that's why trail centres can be nice. Unfortunately I'm now back in Nottingham for the summer after having lived in north wales for the majority of the year and just come back from a fortnight in the alps, which pretty much destroys any of my motivation to ride a bike. The fact that it's constantly raining just makes it worse.

felix.london

agree - if it's just drizzling or I know it's going to rain it's ok - but when it's already lashing it down before you even put a foot out the door it can be a bit demoralizing

Saying that, I think I've only had two wet rides so far this year

Anonymous

Getting to the point when out that I just think hell with it and embrace the mud. It's fun, but I'm getting fed up with cleaning after and indeed the state of the trails is bad.

Though some reasonable drying stuff around my way and they can be swamps one day and couple of days of dry and they're fine. Just have to watch the route as can easily wander into swamps.

Rigga

Been out today on the trans pennine trail, in places it was ridiculously muddy and a couple of times my wheels were halfway deep in puddles. I was completely caked in shite after about 3 miles! Then on the last 3 miles home the heavens opened big style and we were totally drenched like sodden rats. The weather God was taking the piss a bit today i think.

YeehaaMcgee

deadkenny wrote:

I'm getting fed up with cleaning

I don't follow...

One of the problems I find is that when you get soaking wet, riding is fine, but then on a long descent you end up freezing your knackers off because you're dripping wet.
And... it's still too warm to pile on the waterproofs, so a long ride is a continuous cycle (no pun intended) of warm and wet on the way up, freezing and wet on the way down.
And woe betide you if you stop somewhere for a snack or something.

bennett_346

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

deadkenny wrote:

I'm getting fed up with cleaning

I don't follow...

One of the problems I find is that when you get soaking wet, riding is fine, but then on a long descent you end up freezing your knackers off because you're dripping wet.
And... it's still too warm to pile on the waterproofs, so a long ride is a continuous cycle (no pun intended) of warm and wet on the way up, freezing and wet on the way down.
And woe betide you if you stop somewhere for a snack or something.

That's what i hate. Once you're wet you're wet but if you start to get cold you can't put a jacket on because the layer that will be underneath it is soaked, but if you had one on originally you'd be boiled to death on the way up.

sigorman85

just remember to lube ya bike after as i forgot and the chain was rusted quite badly

Anonymous

Also, as amazing as Five Tens are, they're really only suitable for the normal dry southern weather. They make great sponges though.

DanDax1990

How I see it... If I get wet then I get wet... I'm gonna get wet anyway cause I'm straight in the shower when I get home lol

clamps81

It's the cold and the cleaning that gets me. Don't have facilities at mine, so have to go to the folks or a mates. Bike gets ruined because I can very rarely clean it after a ride and I get narked from driving all around the place just to slog around a bog for two hours. In summer I can handle rain, but in winter - forget it. Wish I could move somewhere warmer and less rainy to be honest.

ilovedirt

deadkenny wrote:

Also, as amazing as Five Tens are, they're really only suitable for the normal dry southern weather. They make great sponges though.

They kept my feet warmer than my super-thin shimano SPD shoes. I'd rather have warm, wet feet than dry, freezing cold ones. They do hold water well though...

peat

March/April time, it was dream to ride around here. Sadly, this weather coupled with the fact that this is a very 'horsey' area means that i can be safe in the knowledge that all the trails have been completely destroyed. Time to buy a road-bike..... There, i said it.

bluechair84

And stand an even higher chance of death than roadying in the dry? Not for me. It's steamed up windsheilds which put roadies at greater risk imo, they're even less visible than in blistering sun-scream.
Waterproof socks, my endura shorts which water just rolls off, and a Polaris super thin waterproof jacket keeps me good for summer torrentials.

cat_with_no_tail

I said "sod the rain" this morning, wished I'd stayed in bed.

The trails are in an absolutely HORRIFIC state. The worse I've ever seen them in 10+ years of riding round here all year long. It's just insane, even areas that usually drain fairly well through winter have been completely overwhelmed.

Add to that the fact that my pedal decided to undress itself and come away from the spindle, and you're left with a pretty fuming CWNT!

bluechair84

Despite all the rain, I managed to get KOM on a segment of DH at Stile Cop last weekend. Manmade trail that are well surfaced should still be plenty fun, but natural would be a bit of a ball ache...

MrGeebs

I went out last night about 7, it had been dry for a whole 30 mins so decided to take the risk, 10 minutes in I was under a large tree for 20 mins waiting for a monsoon to have it's way, then I spun on. I got a good hour and a half until it rained it again, I took shelter under a tree again but as it was only 40 mins from home I didn't stay under it for long & spanked it all the way home, got absolutely farking drenched. I have to say there was a point going downhill with full on rain and loads of spray from below in the dark where I knew now I could not get any wetter, thrashing it even faster with a big smile on my face. Was glad to get home though, can of stella was very welcome.

bennett_346

Cat With No Tail wrote:

I said "sod the rain" this morning, wished I'd stayed in bed.

The trails are in an absolutely HORRIFIC state. The worse I've ever seen them in 10+ years of riding round here all year long. It's just insane, even areas that usually drain fairly well through winter have been completely overwhelmed.

You should see the damage we've had. The cycle path we use to get to our trails is gone. 6ft deep crevasses some filled with sewer water, some just open holes.. A tree lodged in the tunnel under the A1(M) and drain pipes brought to the surface and washed down the path.


Tree in tunnel ^^^^^^

Holes left in tunnel (these are 6-7ft deep) ^^^^^^^

Down to the bedrock ^^^^^^^

Ruined ramp ^^^^^

7ft pond of sewage ^^^^^^^

Bear in mind this is from just 45 minutes of rainwater. Because it's in a cutting the rain quite literally turned it into a river.

ilovedirt

Holy fuck, that's mental!!