Wet weather gear

Given Melbourne's bad weather, here's my take on keeping shoes and socks
dry.

1. Light drizzle: use shoe covers
2. Tropical downpour: Sock + Shopping bag + Shoe + fold remaining part
of the shopping bag over the outside of the shoe + shoe covers.

Last week we had some heavy rain - strategy 2 kept my socks and shoes
dry for the ride home. I don't like putting wet socks on...

Ritch.


--
ritcho

Move to Queensland instead


"ritcho" wrote in message
...

Given Melbourne's bad weather, here's my take on keeping shoes and socks
dry.

1. Light drizzle: use shoe covers
2. Tropical downpour: Sock + Shopping bag + Shoe + fold remaining part
of the shopping bag over the outside of the shoe + shoe covers.

Last week we had some heavy rain - strategy 2 kept my socks and shoes
dry for the ride home. I don't like putting wet socks on...

Ritch.


--
ritcho

ritcho wrote:

Given Melbourne's bad weather, here's my take on keeping shoes and socks
dry.

1. Light drizzle: use shoe covers
2. Tropical downpour: Sock + Shopping bag + Shoe + fold remaining part
of the shopping bag over the outside of the shoe + shoe covers.

Last week we had some heavy rain - strategy 2 kept my socks and shoes
dry for the ride home. I don't like putting wet socks on...

Ritch.

--
ritcho

Other things to consider:

1. take spare socks, or leave spare socks at your workplace. Borrow
someone else's newspaper, stuff your shoes full of scrunched up pages (I
find the sport section works best) and leave 'em in the sun and they'll
be dry by 5.

2. there is no such thing as a "tropical" downpour in melbourne.

T

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 at 03:23 GMT, Tamyka Bell (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
Other things to consider:

1. take spare socks, or leave spare socks at your workplace. Borrow
someone else's newspaper, stuff your shoes full of scrunched up pages (I
find the sport section works best) and leave 'em in the sun and they'll
be dry by 5.

Sun?


What sun? What they say about Melbourne having 4 seasons in one day is
a *lie*. Pure fabrication.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
Computers are not intelligent. They only think they are.

ritcho wrote:
Given Melbourne's bad weather, here's my take on keeping shoes and socks
dry.

My wet weather strategy.

Shimano SPD sandals.

Actually, that's my dry weather strategy also. If it gets cold and wet,
then I add a pair of waterproof socks.

Evan wrote:
ritcho wrote:


I've found the most useful bit of wet weather gear isn't outfit bits,
but mudguards. Full plastic clip-ons have worked fine for me, tho I'm
sure alu ones are better. I can't see much serious benefit in the rear
ones that clip onto the seatpost. They might stop the back-stripe, but
they still let thru the lower-body tangential wheel-spray.

It might be just me, given the choice of getting drenched in
- (relatively) clean meteoric water, and
- wheel-sprayed road water full of dirt, oil, metal-dust & so on,
I'd chose the former every time.

My low-budget wet weather strategy is, in order of importance
* mud-guards
* a woolen jumper (warm when wet) under the, ahem, showerproof jacket
* cheapo $ 40 waterproof jacket (XXXL but trimmed at the front)

You still get wet (tho clean) feet with this. I've also got booties.
Booties (or plastic bags!) are great. Wet upper-body - copeable with.
Wet sloshy feet - catch the train home, or just drive to work %-P .

It would be really cool if some bike-wear co would make waterproof
thingies you wear just over the top side of your arms and thighs. With
guards, a jumper and booties, they're the only places that get
annoyingly wet in rain.

Oh yes. A plastic bag for your walman is a must, too...


Given Melbourne's bad weather, here's my take on keeping shoes and socks
dry.

My wet weather strategy.

Shimano SPD sandals.

Actually, that's my dry weather strategy also. If it gets cold and wet,
then I add a pair of waterproof socks.

Eeew! Socks and sandals!

AAAAAAAAA... [flashback to St Matthews Primary, Canberra, and Sister
Mary Pius X telling me I could either wear uniform sandals, or uniform
sock and shoes, but *not* socks and sandals] ...AAAAAAAAARRGH ...

later, feeling better now

xxx
p

"ritcho" wrote in message
...

Given Melbourne's bad weather, here's my take on keeping shoes and socks
dry.

1. Light drizzle: use shoe covers
2. Tropical downpour: Sock + Shopping bag + Shoe + fold remaining part
of the shopping bag over the outside of the shoe + shoe covers.

Last week we had some heavy rain - strategy 2 kept my socks and shoes
dry for the ride home. I don't like putting wet socks on...

Ritch.
--
ritcho

It's not so bad after the first minute or so.....here's my take.....wear
what you would normally wear in the dry....go hard, get wet, put wet gear
back on at end of day, go hard, get wetter, get home, get dry.

Sounds like you need to crack open a couple of cans of 'harden up' before
the trip home (sorta like red bull only better).....hehehe.

Ride On,

Gags

On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 21:04:41 +1000, fred nieman wrote:

I've found the most useful bit of wet weather gear isn't outfit bits,
but mudguards. Full plastic clip-ons have worked fine for me, tho I'm
sure alu ones are better. I can't see much serious benefit in the rear
ones that clip onto the seatpost. They might stop the back-stripe, but
they still let thru the lower-body tangential wheel-spray.

Absolutely.

I was in Clarence St Cyclery yesterday, they have
packaged up some hybrids into 'commuter' bikes. But
they only had a front clip-on (short) mudguard, nothing
on the back (and their ortlieb panniers weren't clipped
to the rack properly).

IMHO to keep your feet dry you must have full
front mudguards. Not only this, but perhaps even
a mudflap (like the furry animal-print ones cheeky
monkey sell).

I find that if I hit slightly deeper water, it still
can stream up into my shoes. I reckon a mudflap would
stop this. I find rain only makes your shoes wet/damp
but this kind of water stream fills them up like buckets.

So mudguards definately, and maybe flaps too, at least on
the front. Our touring bikes have the 'guards painted
the same colour as the frame (dark metallic blue), looks
good.

-kt

Evan Wrote:
My wet weather strategy.

Shimano SPD sandals.

Actually, that's my dry weather strategy also. If it gets cold an
wet,
then I add a pair of waterproof socks.

me too!

Note, the original post was tropical downpour = warm and wet, no nee
for socks

--
aeek

"Gags" gags_44nospamatnospamtpg.com.au
Sounds like you need to crack open a couple of cans of 'harden up' before
the trip home (sorta like red bull only better).....hehehe.

Do you really want to 'harden up' in lycra, in public?

hippy couldn't resist