Elvo

It actually started raining during my ride today. It wasn't supposed to rain for another 2 hours. There is now dirt and water on my bike, clothes, and computer...

diphthong

DrIsotope

Well that's the real issue here, most of us don't have that gear. Even where I am inland, a day with a high temp below 50º is fairly uncommon, and it wasn't unusual to have less than 20 rainy days in an entire year.

But right now it's 28º, we already have 3" of rain for the month of February, and 6 of the next 10 days are forecast for rain. I'm getting miles in by riding by Weather Underground-- I've managed to squeeze rides in where I'm in between storms several times this month. Just yesterday I got in 2 hours after it poured all morning, and after I finished, it poured for another 4 hours. The days when it's not wet aren't any easier. The air temp says 40º, which is totally manageable, but the sky is crystal clear and the sun is beating down on you, so anything in the shade is cold, and anything in the sun is hot.

If definitely come to the conclusion that I will gladly take above 90º over below 40º.

delbiker1 

I ride in the rain if it is not a downpour and the wind less than 15 mph. I also will ride in the snow if it is not too heavy, too icy, above 20 and wind less than 20 mph. I try to do a minimum of 10 miles but sometimes cut it short. It is raining lightly today, temp mid 30s and a light NW wind. I will be riding soon.

diphthong

yes and yes

79pmooney

Fenders, 28c Paselas, long fingered gloves, long medium weight thermals, leg warmers plus my usual knee warmers, a spring/fall jersey in a bright color, blinkie, flashing headlight, cover over and visor on my helmet. Showers Pass rain jacket (since I have one), another jersey and arm warmers under a nylon shell if I didn't).

Last year I rode my traditional Black Friday road/gravel ride of 70 miles when it rained all day reaching the high 30s.

Ben

alexvpaq

2 days off... Wow. Imagine 6months of winter and crappy weather.

Get on the trainer or do something else. Do a good house cleanup. I'm sure you will find something to do.

motosonic

This has got to be a Californian. lol
I'd give anything for 50 degrees right now.

HarborBandS

Yep. I got one or two decent days of riding weather in December, and none since. Sure, there are guys on fat bikes and MTB's on the local paths with good winter gear, and some people with good winter road bikes out there destroying them with the road salt and moisture, but I think my true outdoor riding season in Chicago starts in March and ends in November.

Seattle Forrest

I have a closet full of jackets. Maybe 15 in all, a lot of combinations for a lot of conditions, from a light fleece to a heavy enough down puffy to spend an unplanned night on a glacier. It's a lot of crap to buy, and a lot to store. Could have had a Di2 R3 for what these all cost. You've got a pretty good hand, all around.

Seattle Forrest

Cross country skiing is fantastic cross training, it makes trainer workouts feel easy. Fittest people on Earth are all competitive Nordic skiers. It's great fun if you have hills.

gevad 

Well, you also need snow, right? Right now we have steady rain at about 35 F (and no snow). No way I'm riding (or skiing) in that. But tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, 43 F, and windy. Sounds like a great day for a ride.

PS I agree with you about Nordic skiing and Nordic skiers. Tremendous exercise and incredible athletes.

Myosmith

The original post was titiled "How do you guys deal with two days straight of rain/cold?". The answer is that you can take those days off, exercise indoors or purchase the right gear. Honestly, for those rare cold days in CA, all you'd need is a long sleeve, mid-weight base layer, a water/wind resistant shell, a mid-weight pair of tights and some neoprene shoe covers. Since you won't be using them much, you could stick with the off brand or multi-sport big box store stuff and get by for about $100 and you'd be good to around the freezing mark.

If you look at the picture I posted, I'm wearing a long-sleeve Champion base layer from Target, a pullover hoodie from JCPenny, and a WalMart windbreaker. The balaklava is also a WalMart item but in your climate, you could get by with a lightweight lycra one which should cost around $6 and can serve double duty if you ever decide to hold up a convenience store . You can't see it but I'm also wearing a base layer and SportHill XC (multisport winter pants) and basic off brand ski gloves. Wool socks and neoprene shoe covers complete the ensemble. This worked for well for about and hour and a half at -15F on a sunny day.

I've done centuries and half centuries in the early spring and late fall when there was frost on the ground when we left and the highs were in the 30s and 40s F, wearing my normal riding gear with the exceptions of a long-sleeve jersey with a short-sleeve baselayer (form fitting poly t-shirt) underneath, full finger gloves, a skull cap under my helmet and wool socks. You might shiver and sweat during the same ride but that's just part of the experience. The Ironman century (not associated with the more well-known Ironman events) in rural St. Paul warns riders to be prepared for icy or snowy conditions in early spring, yet more than 100 riders turn out every year.

tagaproject6

Layers and jackets

Greatestalltime

BonkonFleet

Must be rough.

SHBR

Two days is nothing, try two or three months of this lovely weather. (4C and pouring rain currently)

Seems the weather is crap just about everywhere in the northern hemisphere?

Not a fan of riding the hamster wheel, so I'll wait till it dries out a bit.

Sunshine would be welcome, its been awhile.

DrIsotope

This uh... this is where the trail used to be. This pic was taken on Wednesday, and we got a bit over 3" of rain on Thursday, so I'm thinking the situation has not improved.



Out on the pavement, the amount of road debris is really quite something. Regardless, with luck on my side I'm gonna get out there for a couple of hours in between rain bursts.

Y'all are used to this kinda stuff elsewhere, but you have to look at it from our perspective-- 6.5" of rain so far in February, and we got ~13.5" for all of 2018.

Hypno Toad

Raining ... training ride for rainy races

Pick a route without heavy car traffic, avoid low areas that might flood, ride bike with fenders & lights, and wear rain jacket & wool.

OR if you will DNS a race/ride in the rain, then you can take some rest days or cross-train or indoor trainer or look out the window with a sad face

Reference: the 2018 Westside Dirty Benjamin:


Flooding caused washouts on the roads and forced rerouting of the finishing segment along the river bottoms (under a few feet of water).

SHBR

^ Yeah no. ^

With my luck, I'd get 3 consecutive flats just to add insult to injury on a ride like that.

There was a time I thought riding in inclement conditions was a great idea, at least there is no traffic.

I can rest in peace, under a few feet of water even.

banerjek

I've always found it amusing that rain discourages so many people -- it's not like the vast majority of people find taking a shower to be a traumatizing event.

But this behavior is hardly peculiar to cyclists. I've noticed practically no one will go swimming or waterskiing when it's raining even if there's zero chance of lightning -- apparently, they don't want to get wet...

DrIsotope

You have to realize that here-- in what is ostensibly a coastal desert-- it goes long, long stretches without raining, and then gives us the whole shebang in a few days. A big chunk of the 111 into Palm Springs is just gone, and the 38 near me has at least one closed bridge and some missing bits.

Add to that that almost no one here knows how to competently operate a motor vehicle as soon as the ground gets wet, and sometimes it's just better to stay home.

chicagogal

Full on rain (not drizzle, light fog, mist, etc) cancels a ride for me. If it rains during ride, well, then it rains. I have been caught in downpours plenty of times and it isn't so horrible. In fact, on a hot day, some rain feels nice. I just don't like when brakes start to fail due to the wet conditions or when my prescription cycling glasses become impossible to see through. That's unsettling. I also don't like wet/cold - especially descending in wet/cold.

In the winter, bad weather means training indoors. It isn't so bad, as I can do my structured intervals better indoors than outside.

In the summer, it is just too hot for me to ride indoors, so rain means a rest day.

banerjek

I shouldn't be chucking stones. Despite being known for its rainy climate, people do not know how to drive in rain in Portland, OR and whine when light sprinkles fall from the sky (which is often).

You should see the mayhem that results in when we get a single inch of snow. Continuous news coverage, grocery stores get looted, cars bumping into each other, public transit totally hosed.

bbattle

Wow! That sounds like Alabama.

It's been raining off and on for a couple of weeks with no end in sight. I've been hiking with a rain jacket so I stay dry but I really need to get a gym membership or try that set of rollers somebody gave me just to get some kind of exercise.