Do you ride in the rain?

Sometimes, but I don't like it. I've raced in the rain so it's best to be prepared.

I have a low cadence heavy torque style of riding.   It doesn't do very well in the rain.  Cars seem to slide a little more and can't see as well.   In the Texas Panhandle if it rains it is very unstable.  Lots of hail, 70mph winds, tornadoes, and tumbleweeds.  The temperature can drop from 95 to 55 in a matter of minutes.  I'm getting too old.  I usually hit the indoor trainer.

When I lived in Houston, I used to ride in the rain all the time.  I really had no choice.  It could rain for an entire week.  The rain there usually was warm and soft.

as long as its warm enough that i am not going to freeze.

If there is no lightning, then I will. There was a light rain on part of my ride today. I will admit that I adjust my schedule to avoid it if possible like changing a morning ride to evening or leaving earlier/later. I enjoy running in light rain.

I do on occasion and at times find it inspiring. Usually a Saturday or Sunday morning when it is still warm enough even if wet. Just take a lot of extra caution and clean the bike good when your done.
Neal

if it rains i stay on the bike trails.

Here in the mountains in the summer we get scattered showers and storms almost every day from about noon to 5. But our storms don't move. They just pop up, expand, rain out pretty quickly, and then reform elsewhere. So it's totally impossible to predict. Plus since my routes are so high (9600-11500 feet), the rain always contains ice and a thunderstorm can turn into a blizzard in a moment.

I'll never skip a ride because it's looks like rain, because that would be every day. I take whatever gear I need to stay dry and warm. Most of the time I can modify my route away from the storms and stay reasonably dry. There are days where it looks like I'm going to get poured on for three hours, rain's everywhere around me but not a drop actually falls on me.

Having said that, I won't leave my house in a downpour or if I can see a storm to the north which is the direction my routes go out. I'll just wait until I have some window to stay dry for the at least the first ten miles or so. After that I'll finish my ride in any level of rainstorm unless it turns to sleet or snow. I will avoid climbing up to the highest pass on my normal route if it looks like rain there. It's not a friendly place in a storm.

Luckily, we have a countywide free bus system (w/good bike racks) so if I need too I can just bag my ride and ride the bus home. But I can only remember having to do that once so far in three summers back into cycling.

BTW, if you're vacationing in the Colorado mountains during summer, never change your plans because it looks like rain because if you do, you'll be wrong about 90% of the time. Here, if you want to know if it's about to rain you look straight up. If the cloud bottoms lose definition, there's verga falling which will soon be rain for about 10-15 minutes. Often, the shower will die so fast that literally the clouds are gone before the rain stops hitting the ground. You look up and there's rain falling but no clouds. It's very weird.

The only rules you must follow here are to ALWAYS carry warm-wet clothes (cotton kills) for the worst case scenario, and plan to be off the high peaks and ridges by around noon to avoid lightning which is a major threat here.



Edited by breckview 2009-08-22 10:18 AM

I never ride in the rain. If its raining and I need to train on my bike I hit the trainer.

I know, it finally rained here last night. It wasn't raining in Fountain Hills this morning when I started at 5:30am, but I caught a little rain up in Cave Creek.
To answer your question, I won't start a ride if it raining but won't stop if I'm already out unless it gets really bad. I got caught in one big on last year with hail and had to stop and take shelter at a Circle K.

A light rain - sure. But when it starts to impact my visibility, it's just not safe, and time to bag the ride. This happened to me last weekend. And while it was disapointing, I wasn't about to put myself in danger just for the sake of HTFU.

I got caught alone in a heavy downpour a few months ago. I had no choice but to get home somehow. I'd already tried to wait it out under an awning but it wasn't stopping any time soon. I had two choices for visibility: Ride with rain spots/rain streaming down my sunglasses, or take the sunglasses off and let the rain pelt me directly in the eyes and my contacts slide around. I tried both ways and decided I'd rather have my contacts in my eyes and try to see through the sunglasses. Anyway... I ended up having to ride down flooded streets where the water was up to my ankles. That was fun. Even worse, I stupidly rode through a flood plain where I couldn't see how deep the water was. I tried to ride through it and the water was literally up to my knees. I was pulled over in the churning water and carried 5-6 feet toward a drainage ditch. Me and the bike were completely submerged in the flood water up to my neck as I floated down the street. Yes I was dumb by trying to ride through it. Lesson learned!

So yeah I practice a little more caution when the weatherman says "heavy rains possible."

so you guys aren't getting more than usual this year? 

Quite often. And I'm glad I did some really long ones (50+ miles) in big storms this spring - it made a significant difference in my confidence racing Boise 70.3 in pouring rain, thunder, lightning, hail and headwind!

BTW, I tried to suck it up this spring and ride in the rain since it was raining so much and I didn't want to ride inside (I don't have a trainer, so my only other option is spin class, or the exercise bikes at my gym), and I won't be doing that again.  It's just not good for the life of your bike, unless you like halving the life of your chain/gears.. brake pads (and you rim brake people might wear down your rims if it's really mucky), etc...


The good thing about roads though is they dry up very quickly. 

One thing that is very important to do after riding in the rain is to clean and lube your bike.  Road bikes are not made to be in a lot of water, the lube for the chain is normally based on wax which easily washes away with some water.

But I tend to avoid the rain except for on race day where I tend to ride very easy and don't worry about my time.

E

x2-except I haven't raced in the rain.  When I was training for a marathon, I ran in the rain for 3 hours once!  Biking is a little different story.   

I live in the PNW and my first century of the season is in May.  So yes, I ride in the rain and way more then I ever want to, plus snow, haile, and whatever else nature throws at us.  Thankfully we rarely get lightening.  Once that century is out of the way and it starts to get nice though it takes a lot to get me out in the rain.  Near everyone I bike with out here has two bikes, their rain bike and their nice bike.  Sadly I have just the one...

If it's raining at the start of the ride...nope, won't ride in it...I'll hit the gym.  If it looks threatening, I'll check the Doppler radar online to see how close the rain is...if there is a 100% chance that it's going to hit my area within the hour...nope, won't ride...hit the gym.  I've gotten caught in torrential downpours while out riding...and it is NOT fun being 20 miles from home in a flooding rain with gusty winds.  Plus it makes me & my bike filthy.  Not to mention the fact that visibility goes way down in the rain...for both myself and for the cagers that I'm sharing the road with.

Edited by nscrbug 2009-08-22 5:33 PM

I love racing in it...but avoid riding in it like the plague. I don't mind the rain itself...I'm just lazy and hate to clean my bike.

Only when it is raining.

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