BengalCat

This past Sunday the weatherman said there was a window of opportunity in the afternoon to squeeze in a ride. The past week or so we have had most unusually a period of rain of a week or so. I was halfway up Mandeville Canyon's 5-mile climb when it started to rain steadily. I got totally, completely, dripping wet, water running off my helmet and dripping from my body and clothes. I made it to the top. I started down and was firmly reminded that with carbon wheels and appropriate rim pads, I effectively had no brakes. It took me 12 1/2 minutes to make it down.

I can also tell you the saddle is VERY uncomfortable with your bibs and chamois is dripping water.

Also, water got into the sim card slot of my Garmin Edge 1000 and hosed all of my maps and navigation. I've ordered a new sim card but suspect the slot is water damaged so that feature is likely gone. Fortunately the computer itself still accurately records the performance ride data and uploads it. That is what is really important to me. Since I have never used the maps if that part is not restored by a new sim card it is not a great loss.

Weathermen have dropped a few grades in my book.

woodcraft

Rule #9 Chapeau!

Seattle Forrest

What is this rain you speak of?

bpcyclist

What rain?

Rides4Beer

Easiest way to make a 20% chance of rain turn to 100%, go for a ride!

TakingMyTime

The rain here in lately in So Call has been very unpredictable. I was almost in your same situation the other day. I was so close to heading out on a ride with a friend but at the last minute I decided things just didn't look right. Everything was telling me to still go on the ride, "the rain isn't predicted until this afternoon", but I called it off. About 1 hour after that it started to pour.

colnago62

I have a small backpack I ride with on days that there might be rain. I have a raincoat and these rain knickers that Assos makes. I also have a disc bike with full fenders and buddy flaps. It is still a drag riding in the rain, but only a little bit. I live in Seattle, where it doesn’t rain hard, but can rain steadily over a sweet or more. This is why I have a dedicated rain/winter bike.

Kabuki12

I rode Sunday as well and lucked out up here in Ventura County. I rode from my home in Santa Paula to Ventura Harbor Beach. I got sprinkles when I first started out but nothing for the rest of the ride! I really debated whether I would go at al with the weather and all the other stuff that is going on, but told my wife to stay near her phone in case it started raining too hard. I do not ride when I am soaking wet , it feels miserable and there are too many good days in SoCal . I did get the skunk stripe on my back because my vintage racers have no fenders. Every where I went the ground was wet and puddled.

Rain? I need no stinking rain!

BengalCat

Got the new sim card good news and bad news. The good news is it restored the ability to reinstall the maps and navigation features. The bad news is I never use the maps or navigation features.

eduskator

Disc brakes are definitively bettah than rim brakes... (that's it, I'm starting the famous RIM vs DISC brake debate).

Seattle Forrest

​​​​​​For those not from the area, sweet is slang for lifetime. 🙂

woodcraft

Wasn't there weird weather one time where you were ambushed by the sun & got sunburned?

Seattle Forrest

@woodcraft I was riding and this thing appeared in the sky, it was too bright to look at. Then my arms and legs turned red. I've heard that's like "the sun" but to be honest I can't rule out a UFO with a laser canon. I'm sure someone familiar with the sun could be more definitive.

79pmooney

My wettest ride, the first "real" race I rode. Maine International, 1976. 105 miles. Hilly; probably 5000'. 90 riders. Started raining steadily 10 o'clock the night before. Didn't stop until after we finished.

I've never been so wet. Hour two we spent a lot of time riding beside the Kennebec river. The thought that kept running through my mind (and probably quite a few others) was that I could veer right into the river and not get any wetter, Bike was the same.. Most of the bearings were absolutely clean and rusty after the bike dried. One usual race issues wasn't. Hydration. Steady stream of water off every wheel. The peloton talk of the day was what tires tasted best. (General agreement, silk.) Afterwards, there was a cyclist behind every bush in the park!

One thing that wasn't an issue for me was clothes. As wet as they could be and I was a lot heavier (as was everybody else). I wasn't wearing any hi-tech stuff. Synthetic jersey (high quality construction and custom fit but long before any modern fabrics). Cotton fishnet tee. Synthetic shorts with real chamois (and suspenders, thank you!) - and yes, the chamois was wet and squishy!. Leather over plastic classic Selle Italia road seat. (I'd prepped the leather with boot dressing - not for this race but just because I always do.) Leather shoes of the day with holes in the sole at the front. Soggy feet - yes. After the race I heard from several whose shoes had no holes. Pure misery, to hear them. Since then, I've always looked for those holes and even drilled a few.

Good thing, being the old days, bike survived just fine once it was cleaned up and every bearing checked and re-lubed. (Same for chain. It spent the last 80 miles running the H2O lube.) And brakes? Well, we all ran aluminum rims and I heard no issues. (And we didn't wear the rims much. The road had been rained clean. Hence the proper tire taste test.)

The next year's race was as fast as that race was wet.

Ben

Eric F 

Being a weather forecaster seems to be one of the few jobs you can have where it's okay to be less successful than a baseball player at bat.

Litespud

at some point, you just can’t get any wetter- once you hit equilibrium/saturation (water on = water off), it’s simply a matter of not getting cold. If I’m out in the wet, my “waterproof’s” main purpose is to cut the wind and minimize chill, ‘cos it sure doesn’t keep out the rain.