staehpj1

I didn't mention that shoe choice matters quite a bit. Some shoes soak up a lot of water and others don't. It depends on the material they are made from. Paired with socks that don't hold much water my Sidis are never all that soppy feeling. Also with a sock change you can feel really dry if conditions get better if your shoes are not soggy.

It probably helps that I spent a lot of time trail running and hiking in a wet climate so my idea of what is acceptable is different than some. So a bit of dampness doesn't bother me much and managing it with sock and shoe choice is second nature.

staehpj1

No I am from the mid Atlantic area and moved to Tallahassee some years ago. I did travel to the left coast for most of my tours though. Also we have been having plenty of heat here in Tallahassee.

djb

Chuckle
ya, poor wording....

Experiences riding in rain basically
Touring experiences in rain

Tourist in MSN

I do not like hot weather at all. I usually plan my tours in cooler weather. Even that screen shot of my Pacific Coast tour, the temps were in the high 40s to low 60s because we started in May instead of months later when most people go.

I have had some frozen water bottles in the morning too, not on Pacific Coast, but on other trips in May and November.

My Florida trip, my touring partner had been wanting to go there for years, so I relented and we went, in February. And, all he could do was complain about the heat on that trip. Went to Everglades and Keys.

We are considering Oct and Nov for a trip in Southern USA. Should not be too hot then.

But, the last time I slept in a tent, it was pitched on snow, so that might tell you something about our different preferences.

My 2019 bike tour, when I saw a five day stretch of continuous rain in the forecast, I made a reservation to stay three nights at a hostel in the middle of that period. Ended up having six consecutive days of rain.

79pmooney

Funny story. I stepped in a city puddle. Got home and my sock had a distinct and somewhat odd pattern of wet. A week or so later, athlete's foot - to that same foot in exactly the same pattern. Funny except it started an ongoing minor curse.

djb

Athletes foot can be a pain.
On breaks I remove shoes and socks and allow to dry outAs a commuter, I find that if I always use good breathing socks, and wash feet right away, I can keep things under control, but ii have to be on top of things
always surprised by how fast it can start up if I'm not careful

Yan 

Yes I do have experiences, including multiple tours in South East Asia during monsoon season. I always have fenders and usually use a pair of Showers Pass shoes covers; but I lost the shoe covers during a move and am debating whether to just use plastic bags from now on. The shoe covers were not very durable and were always on the verge of falling apart. I was continuously stitching and gluing those things in the years I owned them. I always had good success with plastic bags. At the end of the day I reuse them for campsite garbage.

djb

sorry, I often don't recall who here has done what.

my rain booties have been incredibly long lasting, never needing repairs, even after so much commuting use in spring and fall, even in winter a bit.
mine also can fit loosely, so allow some breathing to an extent.

to me, thats a kicker, plastic bags would really mean humid feet rather quickly, which to me isnt good, but I guess if it works for you, thats the main thing.

as mentioned though, the slowly disappearing plastic bag factor in stores is something to take into account maybe.

indyfabz

I abandoned my 2019 tour from eastern OH home to Philly. There was a drastic change in the forecast the morning after I started driving to the start. Went from possible rain the first day to definite, heavy rain for numerous day. IO literally got rained on every mile on the road. Some of it was very heavy. One area was expecting up to 10" over a few days. The final day of riding I rode down some hills in 2" of water. Temps during the day were only in the upper 40s to low 50s, with a stiff headwind. On top of that, I had forgotten to pack my rain pants and discovered that my rain jacket was no longer waterproof. Last, but not least, I was heading towards the remnants of a hurricane. I got motel rooms all three nights. The bike going from soaking cold to motels rooms with the heat blasting caused the FD to seize up. Couldn't get out of the small chainring the second half of the third day. A friend finally drove some 5 hrs. to pick me up. It rained most of the drive back to his country house.

When using newspaper to line your leg warmers I recommend avoiding the Sunday circulars.

stardognine

Ha, that's pretty funny, Indy. 😁 Almost looks like an insane tattoo artist got ahold of ya.🙄😉

Yep, it definitely rains HARD, in Western PA & Ohio (where I grew up). It's that darned Lake Erie's fault, I bet, just like lake effect snow. 🤔 You get some insane thunder & lightning, too.

Tourist in MSN

I bought some waterproof socks (Dexshell brand I think) to use in near freezing temperatures in case I had to stop and step in a deep puddle. Sometimes near stop lights you have puddles of mucky water surrounded by ice. I have never had to step in such a puddle, but many times they gave me the confidence that I needed to go for a bike ride when there might be ice cold puddles to step in.

When I say I have never had to step in such puddles, I have put my hand in them and dipped in water in the sink, my hand stayed dry so they did pass that test.

Being waterproof, they are wind proof too, which is nice in a vented shoe if I did not wear shoe covers that day.

Tourist in MSN

I have had some miserable trips, but thank you for telling me about a trip that was much worse than the worst that I can recall.

Photo below from a canoe trip, not a bike trip. We were very careful to put up the tent in a spot that was very well drained because of the forecast for rain. Unfortunately, it drained into a wetland that drained enough other areas that the wetland flooded in that heavy rain. Thus we had an inch or two inside the tent in the morning. Much of the campsite was underwater.



Part of the portage trail a day later was under about a foot of water.

Ghazmh

It depends on the temperature, intensity or rain, anticipated length of the ride.

Germany_chris

If you ride with SPD these Adidas “gravel” shoes are pretty water proof but if it’s cold and wet there are much better options

indyfabz

I sat down in a chair in my room at the Motel 6 in Clarion, PA. Scared the hell out of me when I stripped off my leg warmers. I have a mechanical heart valve, so I take blood thinners. At first I thought it was bruising. Had a good laugh once i realized what had caused it.

djb

Get it, a more serious version of after eating a whole pile of beets and then many hours later thinking you've got blood in your urine, until you remember the beets......

burnthesheep

I don't tour, but I have to say that my cyclocross shoes I never have ran shoe covers for fear of having an issue with mud or remounting after hopping off to run. Those shoes have taken in a lot of water.

Sure, feet could have stayed dry with the bag over feet, but the shoes over time get to the point I have had to basically soak them in a bucket of soapy water and try to clean them up.

They just get horribly nasty/smelly. So I vote shoe covers when practical.

I saw the topic and being a person who hates wet feet had to chime in.

mev

Meanwhile in Texas, the City of Austin passed a single-use bag ordinance in 2013. The City of Laredo did too and that got appealed to the Texas Supreme Court. The court determined in 2018 that Texas state law doesn't allow municipalities to have bag ordinances - so municipalities in Texas can't ban single use plastic shopping bags. https://www.texastribune.org/2018/06...ules-bag-bans/

djb

AR15s and abortions and plastic bags
such a curious take on things in some places in the States.

mev

While trying to stay away from specific politics of things or whether this is good or bad...

Texas has a dynamic where the state legislature is dominated by more rural interests. Those interests are sometimes at odds with interests of those in the larger urban areas e.g. Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and particularly Austin. So we tend to have a few patterns here over "local control"
- A city such as Austin will pass some ordinance related to something like plastic bags, tree trimming, short term rentals (AirBnB), anti-discrimination, pandemic response, etc.
- Some of the state legislators disagree with the ordinance, including those that come to the capital, Austin for government meetings
- Hence, the state legislature passes a law that says municipalities can no longer regulate plastic bags, tree trimming, short term rentals, discrimination, etc. The legislature also passes other laws in some of the hot button items you mentioned.
- The local cities also pass resolutions saying enforcing certain state laws is the lowest priority for municipal police or prosecutors
Gradually the percentage of people living in or near the cities is increasing but the dynamic will continue for a while and legislative districts get drawn by the legislature.

I assume Canada perhaps a little of this push/pull between the National Government and provinces such as Alberta or Quebec - and then also with the municipalities inside those provinces?

So there are all sorts of things local cities can't regulate and other things the state says they should regulate but get put as low priority...

indyfabz

Were I live some refer to them as "Philadelphia Tumbleweeds." The city is noticeably less littered since the ban went into full effect last fall.

My biggest issue with the ban is that I produce little non-recyclable trash every week. One single use grocery bag is usually sufficient to handle that, except for the cat litter I toss every week or so. That goes into a medium size trash bag. Before the bag ban took effect across the river in New Jersey a few months ago a supermarket chain was selling them in bulk. I picked up a roll so I could have them for my non-recyclable trash. If I didn't have a cat and a supply of grocery bags I would be wasting a medium size bag for very little trash every week.

mev

We also saw such tumbleweeds bicycle touring in Sudan. The picture below was taken not far from the capital of Khartoum (population 5m+). In the days before we got close to the city, the Sahara Desert didn't have any of these tumbleweeds.

Tourist in MSN

You are not alone, but I prefer bike forums that are free of politics, so I am resisting an urge to elaborate in great detail on dozens of topics.

indyfabz

A rider lost the chance to win the 1988 Paris-Roubaix race thanks to a plastic bag. He was part of a two-man breakaway. No one was close enough to catch them. Then this:

"The duo of Demol and Wegmuller forged on towards the streets of Roubaix and the finish line. The finish would not be in the Velodrome this year as the organisers experimented with a finish by the factory of their sponsor La Redoute. As the line loomed in the near distance, a plastic bag got caught up in Wegmuller's derailleur. Demol sportingly waited up for Wegmuller as the KAS team did their best to dislodge it. They eventually got most of it out but Wegmuller could no longer shift gears, and when the sprint came just a short while later, Wegmuller could not match Demol's turn of speed."

1988 Paris-Roubaix: The day the breakaway won | Cyclingnews

Fast forward to minute 6:00:

djb

Sorry, shouldn't have responded like that again...
I suspect it's just a matter of time for the bag thing to slowly change.
Bags pretty much aren't available in France, even recall this many years ago, and not in the Netherlands from our recent trip.