Join Team Views From The Top - TBTS Ride for Research 06

[Jay H]

From a seasoned bike commuter, a couple suggestions if you are riding in the rain:

A cycling hat is helpful to keep falling rain out of the glasses but the bigger problem is your front wheel. A cycling hat will also easily fit under your helmet, unlike larger baseball hats.

If you don't have fenders and you probably don't, you can somewhat fashion on on the upper part of the downtube with some cut card board and duct tape (don't tape over any shift cables though) and at the least, it'll keep dirt and crap off your water bottle. One problem is the spray will still get kicked up where it's hard to make a fender from it an your forward speed will simply propel you into it.

Prepair for your feet to get soaked. Booties help or plastic bags will work. For those with clipless pedals, they do make booties with the cutouts for them. I use one I got from MEC by serratus and they are excellent, but I wouldn't buy one just to use once or so.

Enjoy the rain, I secretly get a pleasure of riding in the rain in the summer... Kind of like that song by the 80's U2 knockoff group, The Alarm...

Jay

 

[Roxi]

Jay, I am very impressed with the commuting that you do, and thanks for the tips! I'm not worried about getting wet, as much as being able to see. Summer showers in 80-90 degree weather can be refreshing, although getting soaked in 50-60 weather is not. I'm not worried about the water bottles getting dirt on them, I own the bicycle booties (they came in purple *grin*), and I haven't found cycling hats to be all that useful. I've owned several. I've bicycled in rain before, while cycling across the US and Italy. I can't wear contacts and I need the glasses to see a single image rather than two roads at a time. For me it's about the glasses fogging up and being covered with moisture. It's the equivalent of trying to drive your car in the rain without using the wipers or the defroster. Try doing 50 miles like that.

So I'm hoping Mother Nature stops crying for next Sunday. Otherwise my almost three hour ride will be much longer. As it is, I'm back to riding on my trainer in the basement, not my favorite place to cycle, but useful in weather like this.

 

[skiguy]

Jay, I am very impressed with the commuting that you do, and thanks for the tips! I'm not worried about getting wet, as much as being able to see.

No worries here Roxi; we've got teejay's turbo boost along with us now. In other words you want need to see; there will be a different sense in your favor.

 

[Roxi]

No worries here Roxi; we've got teejay's turbo boost along with us now. In other words you want need to see; there will be a different sense in your favor.

LMAO! Just follow my nose, huh? I figure worse case scenario, I can attach a bungie cord from my bike to a teammate's and let someone lead the "blind blonde." But if we have turbo boost going, the bungie cord may not be necessary. Thanks, skiguy!

 

[darren]

OK, can someone please turn off the rain machine???? So far, I have been on my bike 3 times to train for the ride. I absolutley HATE riding my bike in the rain. I had a paper route when I was a kid and since then I have bad flashbacks of having to ride my bike in the rain and cold and snow. That period must have done some serious mental damage that I just can not get over. To this day, I just cringe at the thought of riding my bike in bad weather.

Looks like this year might follow the trend of the last two years and that means rain. A couple years ago, it rained so hard during the ride that there was actually running white water 4" to 5" deep on the roads. It was a ful on monsoon flash flood. 120 psi tires were "interesting" that day.

Last week, I was going to suggest that we all get together for a training ride over this past weekend, but after seeing the forecast, I didn't even bother trying to set it up. What is the deal? Day after day, the 10 day forecast shows rain every day.

Roxi, maybe you can get a small Tote umbrella and duct tape it to your helmet. That might work, and it would look damn cool too.

Anyone know an anti-rain dance?



- darren

 

[Jay H]

Darren, Yeah, prepare for rain... bring umbrellas. It'll guarantee that it wont rain.

Roxi, I am nearsighted and wore glasses throughout high school, but once I got into college and my sisters all had contacts (My mom even had the "hard contacts" which you don't find much (if at all) anymore, do people still wear hard contacts???). Anyway, I got contacts so I could buy cheap sunglasses to mtn bike in rather than expensive prescription ones.

The only thing I've found when wearing glasses is to have gloves to occasionally wipe them off. I can always take mine off and go without them but you prescription glass wearers can't.

But I think even wet gloves will do somewhat an OK job of squeeging the glasses. Usually, when it's raining that hard though, I'm not worrying about me seeing, I'm worrying about what the cagers (i.e. drivers) are seeing. And of course, watch out for huge puddles!!!

Jay

 

[Roxi]

... To this day, I just cringe at the thought of riding my bike in bad weather...

I can appreciate how you feel! (need waterlogged cyclist smilie here)

..A couple years ago, it rained so hard during the ride that there was actually running white water 4" to 5" deep on the roads. It was a ful on monsoon flash flood. 120 psi tires were "interesting" that day.

Should I bring a mountain bike instead?

Roxi, maybe you can get a small Tote umbrella and duct tape it to your helmet. That might work, and it would look damn cool too.

I was thinking of attaching one of those sun umbrellas that people wear on their heads at the beach to my helmet!

It's tough being solar-powered in weather like this, but hey, this is New England, so there is a chance that the weather will change by next Sunday...we can hope anyway. In the meantime, practice your sun-dance!

 

[Jay H]

SO??? How was the ride??? Did it rain, sun, hurricane, hail?

Jay

 

[darren]

NO rain!!! yahoo! The trip report is here and it is all good news.

Big thanks to all the riders, volunteers, and all the donors!

- darren

 

[Jay H]

See, when I posted about preparing for rain, I knew that if you guys were prepared for rain, that it wouldn't...

Going to read the reports.......

Jay