Riding in the rain

A few weeks back I posted about riding in the rain, and grouched
about my eyes stinging when the rain got into them. A couple of
people advised wearing industrial safety goggles over my specs.
I took that advice, and this morning tried the goggles out for the
first time on my commute. They worked a treat, making the ride
much more comfortable, though with some loss of peripheral vision
to which I adjusted after a while. So thanks for the help!

Cycling is so much more fun than sitting in a Sydney bus, even
if there is heavy rain.

--
beerwolf (remove numbers from email address)

beerwolf wrote:

A few weeks back I posted about riding in the rain, and grouched
about my eyes stinging when the rain got into them. A couple of
people advised wearing industrial safety goggles over my specs.
I took that advice, and this morning tried the goggles out for the
first time on my commute. They worked a treat, making the ride
much more comfortable, though with some loss of peripheral vision
to which I adjusted after a while. So thanks for the help!

Cycling is so much more fun than sitting in a Sydney bus, even
if there is heavy rain.


Hi, I'm a fair-weather cyclist and with winter about to descend on Perth,
was just wondering what advice you would give for someone considering the
leap to wet weather riding.

Do you change your bike tyres? Need to look out for different traffic
behaviour? Prepare in certain ways?

Or perhaps I would be better of just avoiding the wet?

Cheers,

Vince

In aus.bicycle on Sun, 14 May 2006 09:07:14 +0800
Vincent Patrick wrote:

Do you change your bike tyres? Need to look out for different traffic
behaviour? Prepare in certain ways?

I have noticed that it's way easier to slide the back end of the bent
in the wet! Especially walking it down that bloody Bridge ramp.

Not enough for me to get energetic about changing tyres though.

Other than taking a bit of time to practice braking so you can feel
what difference it makes, I think the major thing is making sure you
have dry clothes

If your cycling kit gets wet and there's no drying available at the
other end, have at least dry socks... and pack your gear in plastic
bags.

In previous bouts of cycle commuting I found that unless the weather
was very cold and windy (Adelaide in winter, how lovely....) there
wasn't a huge amount of difference between wet and not wet except the
annoyance of wet gear at the other end. A headwind blowing rain into
your face is annoying but not as bad as on a motorcycle. I found a
bandanna tied around my neck was good - warm neck, less trickle of
cold water down the back!


Or perhaps I would be better of just avoiding the wet?

Up to you. There may be a yipe! moment as you get used to different
traction, and a few "what the hell am I doing here!" moments are you
get that trickle of cold water into the previously warm dry bits, but
on the whole it's not that different.

Give it a try one day, see how you go. If you find the worry
ourweighs the fun, then don't do it again but make sure you aren't
talking yourself into problems.

Zebee

Vincent Patrick wrote:
beerwolf wrote:

A few weeks back I posted about riding in the rain, and grouched
about my eyes stinging when the rain got into them. A couple of
people advised wearing industrial safety goggles over my specs.
I took that advice, and this morning tried the goggles out for the
first time on my commute. They worked a treat, making the ride
much more comfortable, though with some loss of peripheral vision
to which I adjusted after a while. So thanks for the help!

Cycling is so much more fun than sitting in a Sydney bus, even
if there is heavy rain.


Hi, I'm a fair-weather cyclist and with winter about to descend on Perth,
was just wondering what advice you would give for someone considering the
leap to wet weather riding.

Do you change your bike tyres?


No.

Need to look out for different traffic
behaviour? Prepare in certain ways?

Rim brakes, when wet, don't work nearly as well (which is a blessing in
disguise, it helps prevent front wheel lockups!).

Ie: brake a lot earlier, and be aware that wet roads are a lot less
consistant than dry roads - oil, diesel etc float up and make
intersections in particular, very slippery. Anything metal has *zero*
grip - tramlines (N/A in WA), manhole covers ... and white painted
lines are also an extra hazard. Braking and cornering have to be done a
lot more carefully than in the dry. On the plus side, a slide will
cause less damage if you do go down!

Visability is also reduced, so wear bright clothes, lights etc. and in
my experience living in Perth, Perth drivers don't "get" wet weather
driving very well. Be careful

Or perhaps I would be better of just avoiding the wet?

I ride all year round, wet or dry .. treat the conditions with respect
and choose your route carefully, and you'll be ok.

On 2006-05-14, Bleve (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
Rim brakes, when wet, don't work nearly as well (which is a blessing in
disguise, it helps prevent front wheel lockups!).

Ie: brake a lot earlier, and be aware that wet roads are a lot less
consistant than dry roads - oil, diesel etc float up and make
intersections in particular, very slippery. Anything metal has *zero*

I had a moment this morning. Downhill slope, red light, about to turn
green. Had front brake on, and was clipping in (I know I should have
the back brake on in such moments, but despite trying, it still has
not become a habit), and the front wheel went slideys on a bit of a
diesel patch.

grip - tramlines (N/A in WA), manhole covers ... and white painted
lines are also an extra hazard. Braking and cornering have to be done a
lot more carefully than in the dry. On the plus side, a slide will
cause less damage if you do go down!

Heh heh. Apparently Ess is still going to sting later today

Conering -- on 25mm tires, if you are silly enough to use them in the
wet -- really have surprisingly little grip. Look out and go *super*
slow on corners with camber facing outwards (negative camber). The
roundabout in question today is a horrible one for that -- it probably
slopes about 10 degrees outwards. Usually bikes can go through a
roundabout much quicker than cars, and even the cars (well, all except
the 4WDs) were taking it carefully today. Still, I wouldn't be happy
going as quickly as them, in such a situation. I unclipped and
semi-walked on all tram crossing today when I couldn't take them at 90
degrees. I no longer give a stuff if I am holding up cars behind me
-- I've hurried before in such situations, and chose not to in the
future (besides, it takes a lot longer to clear the intersection when
you have to pick yourself up and all your scattered bottle cages).

Or perhaps I would be better of just avoiding the wet?

I ride all year round, wet or dry .. treat the conditions with respect
and choose your route carefully, and you'll be ok.

And it can be fun -- when you don't expect it because the radar is
being a misleading miserable peice of ****, once you get drenched, you
no longer care, and revel in the wet late night riding. Zoom zoom!
Just wash and lube the bike afterwards

--
TimC
Kleeneness is next to Godelness.

Vincent Patrick wrote:

Hi, I'm a fair-weather cyclist and with winter about to descend on Perth,
was just wondering what advice you would give for someone considering the
leap to wet weather riding.

Do you change your bike tyres? Need to look out for different traffic
behaviour? Prepare in certain ways?

Or perhaps I would be better of just avoiding the wet?

In addition to the other comments, I'd also say that I have found
the new goggles to be a real asset. The raindrops on the goggles don't
seem to interfere with my vision as much as they did on my specs.
Probably because the lenses are a bit further away from my eyes.
Though a car windscreen is even further away when I'm driving,
and I can't do without windscreen wipers then. Can't explain this.
The other thing (and this would be so even if I didn't wear specs)
is that the goggles keep rain and wind out of my eyes. Eyes
stinging from rain running into them is no fun at all, and if you
can't see properly it isn't safe to ride.

I haven't ridden in Perth for a long time, and even longer since
I rode there in winter. So I don't know how it compares with
Sydney for cold. Personally I don't find Sydney cold enough
to need a rain jacket, and I just wear good quality thermals that
wick moisture off my skin. YMMV however. No matter what
the weather, I get pretty warm after 5-10 mins riding.

--
beerwolf (remove numbers from email address)

On Sun, 14 May 2006 01:33:32 +0000, Zebee Johnstone wrote:

I have noticed that it's way easier to slide the back end of the bent
in the wet! Especially walking it down that bloody Bridge ramp.

Try riding up it in the wet. That's a slide fest if ever there was one.

Not enough for me to get energetic about changing tyres though.

Tyres on bikes really aren't going to make that much difference. A knobby
sucks on road, but anything vaguely slick will be more or less the same.
It may be worth having a touring style tyre with thicker tread just to be
a bit more puncture resistant, but the hassle of changing tyres probably
outweighs the benefits.

Up to you. There may be a yipe! moment as you get used to different
traction, and a few "what the hell am I doing here!" moments

My biggest problem with riding in the wet in Sydney was the drivers. Too
many don't understand reduced friction, and I'd rather not be the meat
in a car sandwich. I still rode when I got caught out, and a couple of
times when the trains weren't running, but I tried not to. These days I
can avoid busy roads, so I just chuck on a jacket and go.

--
Dave Hughes |
The trick to flying is to throw yourself at the ground and miss -
Douglas Adams

TimC wrote:
I no longer give a stuff if I am holding up cars behind me
-- I've hurried before in such situations, and chose not to in the
future (besides, it takes a lot longer to clear the intersection when
you have to pick yourself up and all your scattered bottle cages).

Of course, as a Bandicoot, you'd have enough data to make statistically
valid conclusions about the time each approach takes, wouldn't you Tim?

:-)

Travis

Random Data wrote:

My biggest problem with riding in the wet in Sydney was the drivers. Too
many don't understand reduced friction, and I'd rather not be the meat
in a car sandwich. I still rode when I got caught out, and a couple of
times when the trains weren't running, but I tried not to. These days I
can avoid busy roads, so I just chuck on a jacket and go.

Yes, the drivers can be a problem on some roads when it's wet.
If I feel that it's too bad, I just get up on the footpath. There aren't
many peds about in weather like that.
I used to bus it when there was rain. But Sydney buses lost their
charm for me, when a passenger behind landed an unprotected
sneeze on the back of my neck. I'd ride through anything now,
rather than sit in a Sydney bus in flu season.

--
beerwolf (remove numbers from email address)

Bleve wrote:

Visability is also reduced, so wear bright clothes, lights etc. and in
my experience living in Perth, Perth drivers don't "get" wet weather
driving very well. Be careful

If ever there was a city where fair weather riding was justified, its
Perth.

I'm told that Perth actually gets more rain than Melbourne, however
when it rains in Perth it really rains hard on only a small number of
days. Generally its either fine and dry, or downpours.

Having so few rainy days, and since the rainy days are so intense, and
since when there are few rainy days roads on these days can be very
slippery from all the crap which hasn't been properly washed off yet,
there is a good argument that in Perth you can find alternative
transport in the rainy month.

That said, I've got a proper Uno riding jacket and if the weather is
totally foul I also have a $2 poncho bought at one of those two buck
shops, which I put on over everything. The poncho has a hood and is
long enough to cover at least my whole upper body and my upper leg.

I'm pondering whether its worth getting the overshoes that people
around here mention so often. I'll see how I go when Perth gets its
first real wet day for the year. So far I've only been lightly
drizzled on.

Travis