What to wear in the wet
I am new to Adelaide - I come from northern West Australia, so I am a bit un used to the wetness from the sky. What do people wear when it is inclement? Do you try to stay dry or just get dry at work? Are waterproof panniers necessary (computer documents etc) or are there other tricks? Looking forward to hearing your wisdom.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Murray on -
I use green garbage bags inside the panniers. Sadly not as strong as they used to be but cheap to replace. Put everything in the garbage bags. You can buy waterproof bags from a camping store designed to keep things dry in kayaks and canoes. Cost a bit and a bit fiddly to close as you need to press all the air out.
For me an old goretex suit I bought back in the 80s and overshoes. I still get wet if it's heavy. Spent half an hour in the disabled toilet at work the other day waving my pants under the hot air hand dryer.
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Permalink Reply by VOD on -
This discussion reminded me of a poem by A A Milne :)
Happiness
:
= John had Great Big Waterproof Boots on;
John had a Great Big WaterproofHat;
John had a Great BigWaterproof Mackintosh --
And that (Said John) IsThat.
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Permalink Reply by Peter Hill on -
I cycled to work in the rain on monday and wore a gortex raincoat, synthetic baggy jogger shorts and cycling shirt. They dry off enough at work to be able to put them on for the ride home. Panniers (deuter) had their own rain proof cover. Glad I didn't ride on Tuesday - it freakin' hammered down!
Tricky bit is the rain on my glasses that reduces my vision. Sometimes they fog up too. There is an anti-fog stuff that you can put on glasses but I haven't tried it yet.
For some bizarre reason, on rainy days people in their comfy dry and warm cars drive like pedestrians caught in the rain. On monday I had drivers going all sorts of directions and doing wacko things. Cycling in the rain has greater hazards than just getting a tad damp and only a bomb-squad would have clothing for suitable protection!
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Permalink Reply by Clive Palfrey on -
After you've mummified yourself in rubber, latex, PVC, take care, there's some very strange people out there. Then again you might discover the identity of PP if VOD doesn't get to you first.
It might be a good idea to take a different route, avoid as much traffic as possible even if it means you have to travel further, most of the water and crap that you get covered in will be from passing traffic.
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Permalink Reply by VOD on
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I rode yesterday but benefitted from working a late shift so managed to avoid all the rain.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Murray on
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Glad I didn't ride on Tuesday - it freakin' hammered down!
Yep the water seemed to come in through the seams of my goretex on Tuesday.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Murray on
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Remember also your braking distance is a lot further in the wet. The first squeeze of the brakes is going to just wipe the water off the rims. If you have issues you can look at better brake blocks.
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Permalink Reply by Peter Hill on
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my new super-dooper-"king Knute" commuter is not afraid of the wet and has disk brakes (and mud guards).
On my previous wet weather bike (giant MTB circa '92) the brake blocks would jam up with sand and lath the rims. nasty!
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Permalink Reply by Michael Murray on
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Nice. I've got the mud guards but it's an old Dawes tourer with center pulls.
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Permalink Reply by Doddsy on -
As a bike courier i just wear a rain coat and change my shoes and socks at lunchtime (because home is nearby)
When i couldn't pop home i used to carry a spare pair of socks and some goretex socks to go in between my dry warm socks and wet shoes.
I generally wear leggings when it gets below 16 degrees, but seem to sweat too much in waterproof pants (unless it gets below 10C)
Getting wet is not an issue, but being cold or having wet feet for 10 hours can be challenging.
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