i never understood the consensus that it’s a bad idea to cycle in the rain. it cools you off as you work out a sweat and if lightning were to strike i would be a millionaire. sure, you have to adjust to the new braking distance and it could be slippery on man-made surfaces, but it’s fun.
what nobody told me, however, was that the rain would not only reduce visibility as it pelts your face, it would also hide whatever pitfalls that lie in front of you. i mean, i know that a minor flood could obscure a drain that runs along the road or a building; but, a freaking man-made pool in the middle of a square? since i made a spectacle of myself in front of a crowd of people, i thought i might as well share it with you guys too, and perhaps warn the few dopers, if any, who also enjoy cycling in the rain.
I don’t do it on purpose, but sometimes it happens.
One of the best rides I had last year was in the rain. We thought we would miss it, but we were wrong. We were on trails, in a part of the forest where the trees were really tall, and it was a warm day. The rain poured down, and we got soaked, but the whole experience was so damn beautiful that both Mr. Athena and I have really good memories of the whole ride. The woods were all green, and sparkly from the rain.
I commute by bike, so yes I ride in the rain. I enjoy it, too, as long as it isn’t the bitterly-cold-but-not-quite-cold-enough-to-be-sleet rain that the UK does rather well.
Warm summer rain is great to cycle in. Like the OP said, it stops you getting too hot, plus if the rain’s really heavy there’s a kind of liberation in knowing that you are just about as wet as you can possibly get, so you don’t care about getting wetter.
I only truly enjoy it, though, if I’m cycling home, because otherwise I know I have to get changed at work and hang up the wet clothes which I just know are still going to be wet when I come to cycle home. Putting on wet bike gear is No Fun At All.
As for the road hazards - yes, potholes can hide in puddles. Fortunately I know my route pretty well so I’m familiar with the state of the roads and which bits to avoid. Braking distances aren’t affected that much if you have disc brakes rather than rim brakes.
I sometimes go for MTB rides in the rain, too. Getting totally soaked and muddy is good fun. The only trouble is that if you drive to the start point, getting yourself and the bike into the car without coating it in mud is a hassle.
I ride in the rain, usually not on purpose, but I use my bike to commute so sometimes it happens. I take the same route everyday on a bike path so there’s nothing hidden for me to miss in a puddle. I’d much prefer to ride on a warm, rainy day than a dry, windy one. Wind sucks a lot more than rain.
I ride in the rain (and snow) and enjoy a warm summer rainfall as well. I have been caught in rain that turns to hail, and that is NOT fun. I end up with welts, and often spend 10 minutes or so standing under a bridge to wait it out.
Yes, I ride in the rain. Not to do so would cramp my style. My bike has mud guards (fenders) and I carry a rain cape. Sometime I don’t bother with the cape. In New Mexico, getting wet often seems like a privilege.
Aside: Autocorrect tried to change “cramp” above to “CrMo”. Did it know this was a bicycle thread?
I don’t like getting mud splashes on my clothes. Fenders help avoid a big muddy stripe up the ass, but they’re less useful in avoiding splashes of mud on one’s pant cuffs.
I live in Seattle. Sometimes, you have to cycle when it’s raining.
But cars are less likely to see you (even with lights), it’s harder for you to see ,too. There’s more chance of sliding on the road and things in the road. It’s also just generally miserable. Pedaling with soaking wet socks sucks joy from you.
See what I like about rain is that it lets me put on my rain pants and raincoat (and maybe even my rain booties for heavy rain), and go “Ha! You cannot defeat me!” to the weather.
I’m also Dutch and ride in any weather, I bitch about it - whether too warm, cold, wet or windy - but that’s no reason to leave the bike. When there is snow the sliding can be fun and you’re when it’s icy your more stable on your bike, than on foot.
I used to ride to work sometimes. Only really got caught out once, but it was a doozy. I reached the wet-as-you’re-gonna-get stage in about 15 seconds.
I live in the Sacramento area. It rains so infrequently here it is easy to avoid cycling in the rain, so I do not. I have been caught on occasion by a spring shower, but that is also easily avoided by pulling over and waiting a few minutes. I do not mind the cold, fog, or even the dark, but I do not seek to ride in the rain.
However, I do enjoy running in the rain - for all the aforementioned reasons.
Riding in the rain is awesome; as long as it’s warm. I won’t go out of my way to ride in a rain storm but hey, once you’re wet, you might as well enjoy it.
I got caught in a prairie thunder storm riding home from work when I lived in Winnipeg and it was one of the wickedest rides ever. Traffic at a standstill and I got to ride through the puddles and drench all the cars. Petty, petty, petty but it felt sooo good to be the one doing the splashing for a change!
If it’s raining in the morning, I don’t ride in. My commute is almost 8 miles, so any rain usually means I’m pretty thoroughly soaked by the time I arrive. Even if I have a dry change of clothes, it just isn’t comfortable for the rest of the work day. I don’t have the time to stand in the locker room for a half hour to fully air dry. If rain is forecast, but it’s not raining, I’ll ride. I don’t mind riding home in the rain. As was already mentioned, you reach that point where you can’t get any wetter and it’s not a concern anymore.
I’ve been caught in some pretty wicked thunderstorms, once lightening struck a tree about a hundred feet away. I still consider that one of my favorite commutes home ever. I was hootin’ and hollerin’ and exhilarated. And soaking wet.
Wet snow or sleet are my least favorite, especially if the wind is blowing at you. You get soaked, but you can’t see and your face feels miserable. I’ll usually bail and take my bike on the train. It’s nice to have options. I also don’t bike if it’s below 15F. I just learned through trail and error that that is my limit of misery. My hands and feet just get too cold.
I’ve been to the Netherlands twice, and as an avid cyclist myself, I was struck by both the excellent network of bike paths (and this was down near Maastricht, away from the big cities), and the willingness of the Dutch to ride in downpours.
I rented a bike myself when I was over there and took advantage of the paths, but fortunately it didn’t rain. I’ll ride in the rain if I have to, but it’s not what I’d consider fun.
You make just about every point I was going to post- with one addition. My ride is actually faster in the rain because there aren’t as many other cyclists. But I do know the road and hazard conditions to such an extent that my son challenged me to ride it blindfolded some time. I’d try it for some parts of it but my pace would be slower and I fear that my “timing” would be too far off. Wet gear is annoying, but I have three sets of cycling gear so I usually try to leave a dry pair at either end of my journey so the return won’t be in wet gear.
I commute 7 miles each way, and I used to do the same route but ended a bit shorter on either end, 5 miles. So over the past nine years just commuting back and forth to work, I’ve ridden >15,000 miles (and gone through 5 different bikes which were retired or stolen at different points in their lives).
