CornyBum

Since my bike's going to have some work done on it, I've been driving a car to work these days. From the safety of commuting by car, I've been able to wonder about how I would tackle commuting in the rain, particularly in the severe downpours that Southern California has been dealing with this week. The streets were practically flooded. The rightmost side of the road where I typically ride is flooded, at many areas to the point where the water stretches over the adjacent sidewalk. My route to work consists of two lanes in each direction with 40-miles-per-hour speed limits. Even in a car, many motorists including myself chose to use only the left lane, as the right lane was so flooded that the car would endure considerable resistance from water. I roughly guessed that if I tried to ride a bike in the rightmost side of the road as usual at such water levels, around half of my wheels and nearly all of the drivetrain would be submerged. The cars slowed down to around 20 miles per hour. I'd like to join others here in commuting by bike despite the conditions, but is flooding at the levels described make it stupid to commute by bike? My commute is a measly couple of miles, but I choose to go with it to get used to making the bicycle my main form of transportation. How do you guys recommend that I approach this situation?

1. Just drive or walk.

2. Ride on the sidewalk, where much less water (non-flood levels) gets in my way, although I'll need to deal with it at some points such as crossing streets. I'm supposed to walk my bike across pedestrian crosswalks anyways, so I can just lift it away from the water when needed.

3. Continue to ride on the road but do as the motorists do by staying away from the very deep water levels. This seems quite dangerous in that while I have to deal with 20-miles-per-hour (and often faster than that if some motorists don't slow down that much for rain) vehicles on my left, I have water levels on my right that I'm more vulnerable to as a bicyclist. Should I ride as far right as possible and take the whole lane whenever possible? I like the simple, direct approach of doing that but am intimidated by how much I may have to contend with motorists.

4. Are there better methods?

Oh, and I wanted confirmation on some tips I remember about riding in the rain. I'm supposed to use my rear brake more (as opposed to only using the front brake as I normally do) and should dry off the rims by lightly braking with each set of brakes ahead of time, right? For what it's worth, when I'm done upgrading my bike, it'll have Marathon Supremes with Kool Stop Salmon brake pads.

You guys educate and inspire me with your hardcore commuting experience. Will you please help a newbie out?

katcorot

yea the flooding there is bad, saw some of it on the news the other day. for the flooding part its personnal opinion. if it was me, I'd first try an alternate route which is less flooded and less/slower traffic. soaking your drivetrain in water is really bad and can wash out the grease in your bottom bracket, so i've been told. if there isnt another route, i evaluate the sidewalk being that i could see where it ends and the road starts, nobody wants a sudden drop into merky depths. as for riding on the road. sticking to the right is only where practical. so deep water- move left. but you'll have to consider the currents kicked up from passing cars. and the spash zone.

The Aardvarks

Why do you normally only use your front brake? Isn't that dangerous? You can flip over the handlebars if going fast. I use my rear brakes 99% of the time. Is it different in the rain?

sysiphus

https://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html

Pedaleur

Braking:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html

Pedaleur

Hahaha! Great minds...

sysiphus

I had to register and then find the site to put in the link! Just got back on a bike after a long hiatus and am trying to soak up all I can.

vaticdart

I think everyone here is kind of missing the point.

Southern California's streets aren't set up for that kind of rain. It's not just a question of the usual issues that one encounters riding in the rain, it's a matter of dealing with conditions on infrastructure that is twice-stacked against you. I've driven in California flooding around the Bay Area and I wouldn't want to ride a bicycle in that stuff. Not being able to see the pavement is just asking for an endo.

Flooding is in the same category as ice, snow and winds over 40 mph: just not worth it.

Here in Seattle the streets handle rain, even extremely heavy rain, fairly well. There can be rivers of water flowing down some streets, but flooding is usually confined to those absurdly huge puddles and I know where those develop and can plan ahead. It's different when you don't know where the flooding and big puddles are. And there's a difference between extremely wet streets, including flows of water, and opaque puddles and flood water.

My vote is for #1. Drive or walk (I assume busing isn't possible).

CliftonGK1

Riding in the same general area as vaticdart, I know what he's saying about the streets. Up here, we're set up with the means to handle 15 - 20 straight days of persistent low rain... but when the rivers break the banks; whooo boy, watch out.
Flooding is not fun to ride through. There are sections of the Sammamish River Trail, and parts of the low lying Woodinville (WA) streets on my commute which can end up with as much as 18 - 20" of floodwater on them. You can't tell what's in/under the surface, because it's muddy brown and opaque. Maybe there's a curb, maybe a new pothole, maybe a submerged piece of wood. For me, it's only 1/4 mile or so of flood area, so I just shoulder my bike and wade through it. If it was my entire route, or a few miles, I'd probably just take my Jeep (or stay home, if I thought it was too deep even for the 4-by).

rumrunn6

you shouldn't ride a bike in flooded conditions. probably shouldn't be driving a car either. didn't you guys get evacuated?

frankg813

Here in the desert southwest, it does not rain too much. But when it does, what kind of clothing does one wear? I own a mountain that does not have any fenders so what recommendations can anyone give me on fenders and rain gear.

Thanks !!

bikegeek57

who knows what lurks under the deep water. YMMV.

which reminds me of the young lady here in Georgia who not long ago rode her bike through deep water to evade the police and lost control was swept into the deeper water (oh yeah she was riding home from package store while DUI) she didn't want to release the bike (her mother said, 'she loved that bike'.)

When the officers tried to rescue her she jumped back in for the bike when the officer turned away and went down stream with the bike and got away. Who knows this might be the answer to those quick getaways. I never heard whether she made it or not.

rumrunn6

that reminds me somewhere on this forum someone posted a link to a video where an asian guy rode a bike into a giant puddle that swallowed him and the bike! the guy got out OK but it took a long time to retrieve the bike - it';s a great video!

rumrunn6

frankg813 - your local bike shop should have some MTB fenders for you. they run about $35. I'm very happy with my bike specific rain jacket. for the legs I use EMS gortex pants I got 10 years ago as a gift for hiking in the rain. for the feet I use rubber over boots over my walking shoes. for the helmet I use a cheap hotel type hair cap. for gloves I use whatever I have for the temperature and dry them while at work. ski gloves work great. I also carry extra gloves or leave some at work in case they don't dry in time.

Artkansas 

Take as much of the lane as you need. Go around puddles. Don't be in a rush.

If possible, avoid the main streets, but no short cuts via the L.A. River bed.

Try to avoid peak rush hours.

It can be done. When I lived in L.A. I went through plenty of cloudbursts.

mtalinm

I commute in the rain, as well, which I why I got a bike with drum/roller brakes. As I understand it, they are completely enclosed and function identically well in dry or wet weather. I hear that disc brakes are also pretty good in the rain.

HardyWeinberg

Someone was telling me that socal roads are all gorgeous mirror smooth asphalt (vs the gnarly chipseal that we have) that leaches colossal amounts of oil if it gets rained on, is that true?

PaulRivers

For a temporary thing like that, I would just ride on the sidewalk and either walk my bike across intersections or be really, really careful at them. Especially since you're only going a couple of miles.

Schnayke

I would walk or take a car in that case. Taking your bike could be a lot of fun though. lol

exile

I've never ridden in conditions you describe so take my advice as you will. First, you don't have to ride. I ride year round, but it won't stop me from taking my car if need be. It's about getting to your destination safely first with everything else second. If you are late, or early, or right on time, you got to where you wanted to go without any serious issues hopefully.

Second, I agree about looking into alternative routes. I have to cross the Susquehanna and Chenango river on my ride into work. My usual bridge I ride over (walking bridge) was closed one day so I had to go about 1/8 of a mile out of my way to the other bridge and cross over. From there I had to use an alternate route from what I usually take in. It's always good to know a few different ways to get in anyways. Sometimes the direct route is not always the best.

CornyBum

Thanks for all you replies so far, guys. I think that it may not be worth the damage to myself and my bike to ride in Southern California's version of flooded conditions. If I try it, I'll probably ride on the sidewalk. For now, however, I think I'll just drive. It just nags at me that I could be having something of an adventure while trying to join the 'No Matter What Club' (all-conditions commuting). Yeah, yeah. Safety. Getting to work is the goal. If I ever try riding in such conditions, I'd rather do it on my own time without the stress of getting to work. I might let you guys know how it goes if I ride in such rainy conditions.

wheel

I wear sandals. They dry out fast and the temps never get to cold with wool socks. You don't need a front fender if you wear sandals and rain pants. As for the roads, I take notes on which ones I have problems. It is a gird system so I can choose different roads. I keep anything I don't want wet (submerged panniers) up top or in my coat. Plastic bag everything.

Booger1

I live in L.A. and have been riding to work everyday this week.Just ride on the sidewalk,nobody is walking in the rain anyway.You have to keep your eyes peeled for idiots coming and going from the driveways and making right turns,they WILL mow you down!

I've been riding on the sidewalk at times for 33 years in L.A.,never got a ticket.The cops won't get out of their cars unless a murder was happening,even then I'm not so sure.

wheel

https://www.youtube.com/view_play_lis...4857DAE75EF498
Rainny commute PHX Rear view
Here is a playlist to my vids. We have some decent drainage if you know which roads to choose

Yesterday I rode in the storm, I used the flooded roads. It wasn't to bad, if you use the full lane

hairnet

I haven't been riding in this rain. I REALLY do not trust drivers out here with rain.