[aka brad]

Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. I have a Peugeot road bike I have owned for nearly twenty years. First as a geared bike now it's a single speed. Cloudy all day with rain later in the day. I have been riding my fixie for years, but sometimes I still ride the Peugeot. Today I was going the ride the fixie, but I screwed up the rear hub and I need to do it over again. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. So I pull out the Peugeot. Half of enjoying a bike ride is choosing the right clothing. Too much and you overheat; not enough and you freeze. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. The ride today is flat, 55 miles through the farm land of Pajaro. I choose to race the rain; knickers, wool jersey and a nylon windbreaker; I choose wisely. I leave at about 1030 am and the first 40 miles go as planned. It's cloudy and cold. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. As I ride back to Santa Cruz the sky is getter darker and I can smell ozone. The race is on. I pick up the pace and I hit Freedom hill, climbing toward Aptos. Not particularly a steep hill, but its several miles in length. I have speedometer. If I can keep my speed over 10 mph I can stay seated. The last 100 yards I stand; I can know smell the odor of rain drops on dry asphalt; it's starting to rain. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. I reach the top and the rain stops; my tires are still dry. It's 3 miles downhill to Soquel Dr; the road home and it starts to rain. I've lost the race, now all I can do is mitigate the damage. The rain is rolling down my windbreaker; it's water resistant; not proof. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. The last hill, Nisene Marks to State Park Dr. The rain stops. And it's an easy 3 miles home. You only get wet once.

Oh by the way, SS road riding is boring. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day.

1G1G, Brad

 

[Sparticus]

Not quite... you mean YOU only get wet once. I live in we(s)tern Oregon, where it begins raining somewhere between mid-October to early November and doesn't stop until mid-May to late June. That's why the "s" in "western Oregon" is optional.

Anyway, good ridin' there, Brad. You go ahead 'n wear your windbreaker, meanwhile I'll wear my waterproof parka... AKA Oregon Cyclist's Sauna Suit.

--Sparty

 

[MellowCat]

I love....

to ride in the rain. In the summertime I do it on purpose as it keeps me cool!

Last winter I went out for a loop at night on the road. No rain in the forecast. Well, it rained, and the temp dropped massively. Long story short, the road turned solid ice everywhere, and my jacket solid ice too! Its amazing how much you can slide and drift around on the pavement without going down.

Rain rides are cool!

MC

Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. I have a Peugeot road bike I have owned for nearly twenty years. First as a geared bike now it's a single speed. Cloudy all day with rain later in the day. I have been riding my fixie for years, but sometimes I still ride the Peugeot. Today I was going the ride the fixie, but I screwed up the rear hub and I need to do it over again. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. So I pull out the Peugeot. Half of enjoying a bike ride is choosing the clothing. Too much and you overheat; not enough and you freeze. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. The ride today is flat, 55 miles through the farm land of Pajaro. I choose to race the rain; knickers, wool jerjey and a nylon windbreaker; I choose wisely. I leave at about 1030 am and the first 40 miles go as planned. It's cloudy and cold. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. As I ride back to Santa Cruz the sky is getter darker and I can smell ozone. The race is on. I pick up the pace and I hit Freedom hill, climbing toward Aptos. Not particularly a steep hill, but its several miles in length. I have speedometer. If I can keep my speed over 10 mph I can stay seated. The last 100 yards I stand; I can know smell the odor of rain drops on dry asphalt; it's starting to rain. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. I reach the top and the rain stops; my tires are still dry. It's 3 miles downhill to Soquel Dr; the road home and it starts to rain. I've lost the race, now all I can do is mitigate the damage. The rain is rolling down my windbreaker; it's water resistance. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day. The last hill, Nisene Marks to State Park Dr. The rain stops. And it's an easy 3 miles home. You can only get wet once.

Oh by the way, SS road riding is boring. Cloudy all day, with rain later in the day.

1G1G, Brad

 

[eric]

Nope, three times daily

My worst ever commute:

The AM ride to work: force 7 headswinds and a couple of showers. Short enough to stop under a highway overpass and sit it out.

The PM ride from work to the uni: force 8 winds and constant rain.

The evening ride back home: force 10 side winds along the canal, torrential rain, and about 35 F. When I finally made it to the shower, my feed had black and red spots. Everything in my (once) waterproof bag was soaked - my uni ID card was falling apart and my phone had 2 oz. of water in it.

By this standard even the coldest, wettest rides & races I've done were dreamrides!

 

[aka brad]

Yo Sparty...

Not quite... you mean YOU only get wet once. I live in we(s)tern Oregon, where it begins raining somewhere between mid-October to early November and doesn't stop until mid-May to late June. That's why the "s" in "western Oregon" is optional.

Anyway, good ridin' there, Brad. You go ahead 'n wear your windbreaker, meanwhile I'll wear my waterproof parka... AKA Oregon Cyclist's Sauna Suit.

--Sparty

"You only get wet once", once you're wet, you're wet

1G1G, Brad

 

[Sparticus]

Okay, I get it. But I'll still bet I get wet once more often then you do this time of year!

S'all good, me friend!

--Sparty

"You only get wet once", once you're wet, you're wet

1G1G, Brad

 

[el-cid]

Not a lot of rain here in Montana (more extreme weather-snow or wind), but my one-and-only race I've raced the single speed in was in the pouring rain. I thought about racing the single speed for a while, and the last race of last season actually had a single speed class (the first race I've been to that had a ss class, no distinction between beginner, sport or expert). Me and two friends (one on a ss, one on a full suspension Ellsworth) loaded up the bikes into my '71 Chevy Ambulance bike hauler and headed out 100 miles to the race. The sky was very dark and I was thinking that the race may not even happen. We got to the race site and it was sprinkling. By race start it was pouring cats and dogs but they lined up the racers and started the race. I was pretty miserable (had to push quite a bit; was re-thinking the 2:1 gearing) so I didn't even feel the rain until after the race was over. The ss with disc brakes actually wound up being the perfect bike to race in the mud and slop. I wound up taking 3rd place and had a very memorable day, but I'd prefer racing in the sun and being able to pre-ride to course and dial in details like gearing.