Walking or riding in rain

We had a super great summer without any rain (ok, not so great for nature, but I love it!), and I'm dreading the return of the nasty weather. I hate rain, I hate cold, and most of all I hate cold rain and dreary grey skies. I'm such a total summer person. Unfortunately, living in Germany, a summer like the current one is a twice in a lifetime occurrence, if you're lucky. So I'm trying to steel myself for the inevitable.

Winter will be another problem altogether. When I get home at 3.30pm, it'll be almost dark, so all my walking will have to be done on the streets of my neighborhood, not in the woods as I usually do. Not something I enjoy a whole lot, but nothing to be done about it.

I got caught this afternoon in a torrential summer downpour riding home from the beach. Since I sail I should have known better/read the weather better and prepped better. I wear lycra shorts and jersey, but had a cotton tee on as a base layer; my ultralight backpack (nonwaterproof) was holding a beach towel - all this cotton seemed to suck up about 40lbs of water. Warm rain to start, then I chilled.

I did have a full set of 4 blinky lights (2 ea front and rear) plus normal hi-vis accessories (helmet, brassard, gloves, yellow jersey, etc.), so I felt reasonably confident I was seen. I had left both my yellow and clear-lensed goggles at home, but my sunglasses kept out the rain and road spray.

Strangely enough, this idiot pulled alongside me, beeped the horn and waved. I didn't know what was up until I saw it was my wife who was the idiot (NOT! LOL), who rescued me, on her way home from work. We threw the bike in the back of her SUV and a good thing, too - the 4-5 blocks around my house were severely flooded as the rain exceeded the capacity of the system to handle runoff. I would not have been able to go much further, and no shelter. My wife confirmed that my lights made me visible.

Of course, the torrent slackened about 10 minutes after we got home, and the storm passed about 20 minutes later. I would have been smarter to stay put at the beach. And packed some minimal rain gear.

My kit is now drying, maybe through tomorrow (the shoes, especially), so I might miss a day of riding. Re-lubing the chain should only take a few minutes, as well as a waterless wipedown of the frame.

We are likely to get caught out in the weather from time to time while riding; it's part of the activity. Lots of good advice on this thread, but my story above is meant mainly as advice to "be smart."

slimmingsarah_85 wrote: »

I'm weird, but I like to imagine I'm in some dramatic scene from a horror movie where I'm running away from something. Let's face it, all horror movies have three types of "OMG! Something is after me" run scenes: scary building/woods, night or rain.

But, like I said, I'm a bit weird.

See above my story on being caught out in a storm while riding today.

Strangely enough, for a while, I was humming the "Dum-dumdum-dumdum-dumdum" tune from the "Wizard of Oz" where Miss Gulch is bike riding away from the twister.

JetJaguar wrote: »

mjbnj0001 wrote: »

My kit is now drying, maybe through tomorrow (the shoes, especially), so I might miss a day of riding. Re-lubing the chain should only take a few minutes, as well as a waterless wipedown of the frame.

A tip for drying shoes, stuff a couple of wadded up balls of newspaper inside. Change it out about every 20-30 minutes until they start coming out mostly dry. That will help speed up drying by pulling water out from the inside.

(Florida rider checking in, where there is a thunderstorm every afternoon in the summer like clockwork. Welcome to The Sunshine State!)

Thanks for the advice. I'm already trying it; I don't have a lot of newspaper lying around in this online news era. I've got some paper toweling in them now.

I've spent enough time in the Tampa/Clearwater area to know how you guys get hit with some serious rain!

I only walk in the rain when I am with my cousin or boyfriend. A wear rubber boots and a jacket and I am ready to go.

I personally love to run in the rain because it cools me down and makes me feel great. I also have learned not to let bad weather change my plans because I could always have bad weather race day and would have to deal with it so now I train in it.

I don't like riding in the rain, i yry to check the weather and avoid being caught in the downpour, which is often a case here in Florida. Sometimes it's as easy as changing direction of the ride, although i have my preferred routes. I don't like my shoes and my bike getting wet, it's bothering me the most, as strange as it sounds, lol. Problem with bike is that lots of sand will stick to wet chain and drivetrain and make it all gritty, i hate that. Everything else, i learned to deal, it actually does cool you off in a hot day.

icemom011 wrote: »

JetJaguar wrote: »

mjbnj0001 wrote: »

My kit is now drying, maybe through tomorrow (the shoes, especially), so I might miss a day of riding. Re-lubing the chain should only take a few minutes, as well as a waterless wipedown of the frame.

A tip for drying shoes, stuff a couple of wadded up balls of newspaper inside. Change it out about every 20-30 minutes until they start coming out mostly dry. That will help speed up drying by pulling water out from the inside.

(Florida rider checking in, where there is a thunderstorm every afternoon in the summer like clockwork. Welcome to The Sunshine State!)

Since newspaper is so much less common now, paper towels or rags work just as good, change them every so often and it will dry up for next day.

I actually pick up those free newspapers like the Pennysaver mainly for this purpose.

JetJaguar wrote: »

icemom011 wrote: »

JetJaguar wrote: »

mjbnj0001 wrote: »

My kit is now drying, maybe through tomorrow (the shoes, especially), so I might miss a day of riding. Re-lubing the chain should only take a few minutes, as well as a waterless wipedown of the frame.

A tip for drying shoes, stuff a couple of wadded up balls of newspaper inside. Change it out about every 20-30 minutes until they start coming out mostly dry. That will help speed up drying by pulling water out from the inside.

(Florida rider checking in, where there is a thunderstorm every afternoon in the summer like clockwork. Welcome to The Sunshine State!)

Since newspaper is so much less common now, paper towels or rags work just as good, change them every so often and it will dry up for next day.

I actually pick up those free newspapers like the Pennysaver mainly for this purpose.

Paper towels worked pretty well, thanks all for the paper advice reminders. Also took out the removable innersoles to dry faster, and since I have an older house with forced air circulation, I put the shoes near an outlet to let the dry air-conditioned air do its part as well. Wasn't able to wear them the next day (probably could have, but they were somewhat dampish), but yesterday, which was the 2nd day after, they were bone dry. As a further precaution, I'm going to get a new supply of shoe disinfectant/deodorizer so that any micro critters that came with the rain won't grow and stink up the shoes.

I love the rain. My face will be blessed with moisture!