Riding in the Rain.. it's all about the right gear !

[Ypedal]

Moncton city has locked out the bus drivers, contract negotiations are going nowhere, so bad weather days means either pay out the ass for taxi ( 20$ a day ) or ride the bike, rain , shit or shine...

Weatherman says we be getting 20+ mm of rain today, was dry this morning, i usually just go for it and get soaked on my way home... I dont really care if i get wet if i'm on my way home..

However, i've been wanting a set of these now for a while..

http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Cycling/S ... unisex.jsp

First time i saw them was when Justin was crossing canada, left moncton for Halifax in a hurricane ( seriously, check his blog !!. ) and last week i finally pulled the trigger and got a few sets of them.

This morning, i packed them in my backpack, along with the rain pants, and rain coat.. and went to work.. by noon it was pouring rain...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQWkbpdIQ40



I'm sitting here at my desk, dry as can be, both sneakers clean and dry... lovin it !

[ohzee]

Those look pretty cool. I really wish I had some rain pants that I did not feel would rip while also not making me sweat like crazy.
I just drive the car when I know it's going to rain , but wish I was not such a pansy about it.

I do have a real nice upper rain jacket just never ever happy with the pants.

[Ypedal]

Agreed.. riding in the rain just plain sucks.. no other way about it.

However, if you gotta do it, may as well do it as comfortably as possible.

The shoe covers worked perfectly, kept not only the water out but the stinky grime also, i have 2 pairs of sneakers, the Nike runners and a pair of Merrell hikers, the nike's would be soaked thru within seconds, the merrells take it for a few minutes... but either way if you allow your shoes to get wet they reek if not soaped and washed.. and you have to make sure they dry out within 1 day or else..

Rain pants.. that, is a whole chapter, i've tried various types, pedaling hard means sweating like mad so i motored home without pedaling.... on the A2B i have to pedal or die in a few spots ( too slow on it's own ) .

[cal3thousand]

Nice. Living in Cali, you don't get too much opportunity to use that stuff. And when you do get the opportunity, you don't want to due to the idiot drivers in the wet.

But I have a question,

Isn't that suit you have on in your avatar waterproof?

[heathyoung]

Motorcycle rain suits work well too - they do get hot though, naturally - but flexible enough to pedal in.

I find they lose their effectiveness over time, and need to be replaced every season or so - or maybe it was the cheap ones I buy

[Ypedal]

Used the MEC shoe covers again tonight on my way home from work, they are the freakin awsome... legs soaked ( had rain pants in the backpack but was on the A2B so i was pedaling, i prefer cool wet to hot sweat.. at least while i'm on my bike )

Sneakers.. bone Dry !

I should have gotten a set of these years ago.... riding in rain.. not as miserable.

[HypnoToad]

I've seen some people near me use bin liners over their shoes, not exactly ideal but better than nothing.

Those MEC things do look like a good idea, especially considering how much it rains in England.

[Kin]

I wear http://www.invisibleshoe.com/ and then switch to my shoes if I am going somewhere where I have to .

[The fingers]

I usually don't ride in the rain, mainly because the volume of cars combined with the sparse amount of local rainfall causes the road surface to become extremely slippery and dangerous in a hurry. I have a couple of scars from rainy day accidents to remind me to be very careful. I carry two large plastic bags just in case it does get a little wet, but I slow way down-especially on turns. I have also had some hair-raising close calls with lightning strikes, for some reason I seem to attract static electricity and/or cause interference when passing near to certain electronic devices. I also dislike most raingear, so when it's raining or the forcast is for >10% chance I tend to drive or take the bus. So spoiled living here in the dusty southwest US!