rumrunn6

our Dad made fires on so many family hikes in the woods, mountains & beaches. taught us the basics incl how to be safe & responsible. sometimes you need one but mostly I don't. still, it's a good skill to know & one gets better w practice. college coach, on a rock climbing trip, taught me that yes, you can start a fire in the rain & wood is only wet on the outside & burns just fine

SHBR

Years ago I bought some campsite firewood in Oregon. It was wet all the way through, wouldn't burn no matter what I tried.

By the time I got down to Arizona, I finally built a fire hot enough to consume those logs.

Its still an ongoing joke between my wife and I related to pointless objects and tasks in life.

Brian Ratliff

I've lived and cycled in rain in the Pacific NW all my life; I have some advice.

First, 30 and 45 degrees are very different temperatures. My rule of thumb is that when rain is added to a temperature, I dress for 10 degrees lower. So if it's 45 and raining, I'll dress as if it were 35 and add a rain jacket.

Generally, you will get wet. No avoiding that. The question to ask is how to stay warm while wet. From my experience, if you can keep your core warm, your extremities will be okay (maybe not super comfortable, but okay). I favor wool, though some synthetics are nice as well. Stay the heck away from anything cotton. You should have zero cotton on your body if you are riding in the wet.

Wool base layers and wool long and short sleeve jersey's are great (synthetics work okay as well, as long as they are lined and insulated - lycra jerseys do absolutely nothing except add non-sagging pockets under your insulation). Just layer them up as needed under your rain jacket. A good cycling specific rain jacket is a must for cooler temperatures. Showers Pass makes the best rain jackets (used to be Burley before they were spun off and renamed Showers Pass). DeFeet has some good wool stuff for your extremities and baselayers, and Oregon Cyclewear has excellent wool jerseys. I wear sock-type booties over my shoes and wool socks. They don't keep water out, but they trap warmth and act as a wind block. Again, your toes will be fine if your core is warm. For hands, I wear wool gloves most of the time. In lower temperatures or when it's windy, I'll wear wind breaking gloves over a glove liner. Everything's going to get wet, the trick is managing warmth, not dryness. I've tried waterproof gloves; my hands just got soaked with sweat.

For legs, I have insulative tights. It gets wet, but it's manageable, as long as your core is warm. If it's relatively warm, you can get away with insulated leg warmers. You can also layer this stuff up. I've gone out with wool knee warmers under tights before; the combo was pretty sweet. I've used various brands... as long as it covers your legs and has some insulation, I've never had a problem keeping my legs warm under any condition.

For in-between temperatures (too warm for long sleeve jersey, too cold for short sleeve jersey plus long sleeve baselayer), wool arm warmers are pretty nice. In fall/winter I tend to wear these over a long sleeve baselayer with or without a rainjacket.

An insulated skull cap that goes over your ears which you can wear under your helmet works to keep your head and ears warm. I've also gone out with just a regular, thin, wool stocking cap under my helmet. It was a tight fit, but it kept me pretty warm. Adding a thin layer of petroleum jelly to your cheeks and nose when it's raining and in the 30s works to keep your face warm.

Dress in layers and learn to ride over-cold and over-hot. In other words, learn to ride when it's uncomfortable. Sometimes you simply miss, but you learn from experience.

Coldest I've ever been was a race in the Willamette Valley near Eugene. It was low-40s-upper-30s and raining hard the entire 40 mile race and all I had was a short sleeve lycra jersey, arm warmers, and really thin knee warmers. No insulated leg warmers, jacket, shoe covers etc. Pretty much what you see in my profile pic. I think I had short finger lycra gloves for my hands. Before the final climb (race ended on a 2 or 3 mile hill climb) warmed me up a bit, there were points when I couldn't feel anything below my elbows and I was looking over at my hand to guide my finger to shift gears. After the race, we had to ride back down the hill and two of my teammates bummed a ride from a random passerby with a pickup truck because they were shaking so hard they couldn't hold their bikes straight.

EDIT: one thing I just thought of... there is a difference between insulation and wind/rain blocking. You definitely need insulation. You don't necessarily need wind or rain blocking outer layers. A raincoat over a lycra jersey will have you both wet (from sweat) and freezing, even in 45 degree rain. A good wool jersey with insulative under-layers will work just fine even without a raincoat into the lower 40s. This goes for hands and feet too. A pure wind/rain blocking glove is useless unless you have insulation under it in the form of a glove liner. A wind/rain blocking shoe cover is not terribly good unless you have either thick socks over your feet (problem here is you need bigger shoes to fit these socks), or socks which go over your shoe (my preferred solution - DeFeet has these also).

DoYouDiverge

Not yet 45 but I wore my Castelli Gabba 2 in about 50 today with arm warmers and felt perfectly warm and blocked all the wind. I don't understand how such a thin material can keep you so warm. I'm a believer now in why high end cycling wear is so costly.

Sullalto

I also came up with the hiking analogy, and put all the stuff recommended for remote hiking into a waterproof pannier.

One of my best friends will be a coworker, so she'll know where to send SAR if I don't show up to work. Incidentally, SAR would leave from the loop I'll be riding. Hell, they're literally adjacent to the lodge I work at. And the lodge does a van tour of the loop everyday at 9am, so I'd never be lost for more than 24 hours. Somebody always knows when I'm riding and when to start worrying as well.

I'm pretty nonchalant about dangerous situations provided I've got some preparation and planning done, which includes having the gear for a medium emergency. This thread is part of that.

Pretty much none. I started riding in a semi-desert and am about to live in a full-on rainforest.


I'll be jumping between the west and north shores of the olympic peninsula. I was hoping for some local(ish...virtually nobody lives here), so thank you two for responding.

I've been holding off on spending the $$$ on an expensive showers pass kit, but I guess I'll pull the trigger if somebody familiar with the environment says it's necessary. How do y'all feel about rain pants?

Andrey

Thanks. I have been trying to figure out something like that for a while and my ideas of a fat bike or a motocycle tube cut to size failed.

Brian Ratliff

I’ve never used rain pants. Just tights or knee/leg warmers. Riding in the rain isn’t bad. The worst part is when you are still dry and about ready to embark. Rain seems so much a big deal when you are dry. Once you get wet, you find it’s not really that bad.

Carbonfiberboy 

Have another look at my list in post 20. No waterproof gear recommended except maybe gloves. The expensive stuff is the PI tights and several levels of gloves. Big however - if you're a slower rider you may be able to ride in WP gear. My normal cruise on the flat in the rain is 17-18.

If you're not shivering in the parking lot, you're dressed too warmly. As is said above, once you get going, it'll be a lot of fun, partly mentally, thinking that all the folks seeing you go by think you're an idiot when actually they're the idiot for not being out here having so much fun, all safe and encapsulated in your warm gear.

Riding in the rain is actually pretty safe. It's in the spring when you first go out with bare elbows and knees that you're scared. Eeeek! Dry pavement! Below: going out in graupel. We had a nice ride.

autonomy

But as you're probably aware, hypothermia needs less than 24 hours to cause damage or kill. Sounds like you're taking this more seriously than the average cyclist might though (at least you're thinking about this/SAR/have a pannier)


Second this advice. I wouldn't put it as far as 'shivering' in the parking lot, but yeah - you should be cold and itching to get moving when starting out. The tech stuff these days (wool, fleece, poly) will keep you warm when wet if you're layered properly - just need to get that balance where the wind chill factor isn't making you too cold. Modern clothing is really good at transporting moisture away from your skin. I can attest to this - I have a couple of fleeces and a softshell jacket which keep me warm and toasty in freezing temps while the moisture produced by my body freezes as a layer of frost on the outside! When you stop moving, your body heat dries out the clothing. My problem with waterproof gear is that when it's raining it's really humid already plus my body produces more moisture... if it all gets trapped by a 'breathable' shell, I overheat.

Here, this is an extreme scenario for more extreme conditions (winter hiking), but still has a lot of applicable/useful advice for being wet and staying warm:
All My Layers Are Soaked - Now What?

Carbonfiberboy 

The answer to the hiking thread question is the same for cycling: you keep moving. Been there, done that many times. You move at an effort level that keeps you adequately warm.

Hypothermia is simply not an issue if you have the 10 essentials. Every hike, I see people without a clue who would be in big trouble if the slightest thing went wrong. Don't be those people, cycling or hiking. Always have adequate gear with you on a day hike so that you could spend the night without dying and hike out in the rain.

Riding in the mountains, always have adequate gear so that you could descend in sleet. If you're backpacking, you dry your wet clothes in your sleeping bag. I wear my wet socks to bed and put my wet outer clothing in the bag beside me. Hundreds of thru-hikers get up the PCT to Canada through Oregon and Washington every year, hiking every day rain or shine, and with packs as small as 12 lbs. So you don't need a lot of gear, either hiking or riding, but you do need the right gear. Experience helps a lot.

While I don't find WP gear helpful when riding because of my heat output, I do wear WP/breathable gear hiking because I'm simply not going that hard. If I start sweating in my WP gear and unzipping doesn't solve the problem, I slow down. Feet: I can hike just fine in the snow in my trail runners. In the snow, I put my socked feet in plastic bags before putting my shoes on. In ordinary rain, my wool socks keep my feet warm enough. So buy your hiking trail runners big enough to wear a thin liner and a wool sock in them. Works fine in heat and cold.

Riding, I always have spare gloves. Backpacking, besides the 1 set of warm clothes I bring day-hiking, I also have one extra set of socks, shorts, and undershirt. Nothing else necessary. Been doing this for 55 years.

MarvinTMartian

my red F-250 would be the mode of dress for these conditions. Or a trainer.

Carbonfiberboy 

Tonight it will have snowed above 200' and will be 36° and raining tomorrow at sea level, not getting above 40°. I cancelled the ride. I might have gone out with a totally nuts friend, but I haven't finished rebuilding the rear wheel on my rain bike. So I'll turn the heat on in the shop and ride my rollers with my wife at 55°. Maybe some buddies will come over and jolly it up a little.

SylvainG

Last May, I rode a charity ride of 70 km (so around 44 miles) at 3C temperature (so around 37F) in a constant rain at an average speed of 28 km/h (so around 17.5 mph) and wore only this and a short sleeve base layer. Beside not properly dressed at the extremities (feet and hand got wet and cold), arms, legs and core stayed 'dry' and warm. It will be my choice of clothing next week as they are forecasting temperature to be around or below freezing point. The back of the pants and jacket is made of a breathable material while the front is wind/waterproof. You can read my review there for more details.

Andrey

35 degrees and rain/snow for most of the 300km ride on April 1in upstate NY. Showes pass rain jacket, thermal jersey, base layer, fleece tights with "rain legs". Feet and hands were very wet. I had 6 pairs of gloves on that ride. We even use plastic sandwich gloves that we got from a deli over wool gloves to stay warm. When my gloves got too wet and uncomfortable, I just pull out a new pair and my hands were OK for a while. Feet were wet but warm with wool socks and thermal overshoes.

autonomy

Interesting, I saw another guy on here claiming to love his Arsuxeo softshell jacket (obviously a Chinese brand). How's the quality? About what you'd expect from a no-name Chinese brand or something better?

SylvainG

Well, I've used both pants and jacket late last Fall for about a month then early last Spring for also about a month and twice this Fall so far. I used the jacket last Winter while cross country skying. They both still look like brand new. When I bought it, there was no review so I didn't know what to expect, but for the price, I wouldn't have lost much if it turned out to be a bad purchase. From what I can see about other reviews though, their quality control isn't stable so your millage may vary.

rumrunn6

how is the sizing? especially curious about the pants, meaning what is your waist size & what size did you buy & how does it fit? I'm assuming the length is good, not too short? I was checking out some other pants (to replace my Novara Headwind) but bailed on them cuz all the review said the legs were too short

SylvainG

I wore 34" waist last year. This year I'm down to 32" (that's what biking 5 000 km in 7 months does to your body ). I ordered a large size. I'm 5'9" and length is perfect. Waist has an elastic band so it was fine last year and is still fine this year. Jacket is fine too, but I do find the neck to be a bit too big but with my balaclava, it's a non issue, even during Winter when I cross-ski.

rumrunn6

THANKS I might give them a try knowing this, I'm probably 2 (or 3) sizes over you

BlazingPedals

No way would I ride in that sh...tuff.

fietsbob

I living on the NW Coast, adopted the British Wisdom of a Cycle Rain Cape, it forms an awning-like rain protection for my hands and legs..
As long as it's not too windy.. Feet in rubber LL Bean Shoes..

On my 3 season tour of Ireland and Scotland, 20 years ago, I had an Anorak and rainpants with suspenders, + shoe covers ,
and shell gloves with a polar fleece glove for warmth.. (+ being removable, it dried quickly)

30F is below water freezing (0C/32F) point so, Here, I'd be riding my studded tire bike to safely go thru patches of Ice..



...

PaulRivers

30f-55f is the range where waterproof breathable rain jackets like from Showers Pass work pretty well, so that's what I'd wear. They probably also sell long waterproof breathable pants.

Waterproof helmet cover, waterproof gloves, you can wear waterproof shoe covers or buy a separate pair of waterproof shoes.

If you're just riding a mile or two you don't need expensive stuff, you can bike cheap stuff and bike at half speed. But 30-50 miles - you're not going to save money with it. You can bike in the rain at 30f-50f, but it's fairly expensive to do so.

I would also recommend making sure you have tires that grip well in the wet. Some are awful, some are pretty good, none are as good on the dry. Continental gp4000's do well in the wet. Whatever came with my specialized road bike a decade ago are terrible, lol.

WalksOn2Wheels

Coming in pretty late here, but if you are super dedicated to get in the miles no matter what and rain is a guaranteed factor, I would suggest that full fenders are a must. They make a massive difference in being comfortable for the long haul. It's one thing to be rained on or ride with limited traction. It's entirely different to have you lower legs and back constantly being splattered with wet and nastiness from the road.