Riding in the rain
Chelsea and I have been very lucky with almost never getting caught in the rain. Well, it’s been both luck and careful planning. We have, however, wanted to be better prepared for riding in the rain.
I left before dark again one Saturday while Chelsea was in California, and hadn’t paid much attention to the weather forecast. It was definitely very chilly, enough to wear cold-weather clothes and my windproof jacket.
By the time I got to A1A I realized how dark the skies were, and soon began feeling the first drops of rain. I very much wanted to keep going on my ride, despite the increasing rain. By the time I got to the Inlet I was quite wet, so I pulled off and sought cover under the pavilions, hoping it would let up.
As I sat quietly in the dark, listening to the rain on the pavilion roof, who should wander over from the ocean side of the lot but our buddy Jungle Jim, dressed for cold, wet weather, carrying fishing poles and a lawn chair. He was amazed to see me under such inhospitable conditions, almost as much as I was amazed to see him in that weather with fishing poles and a lawn chair. We chatted for a while as I tried to decide what to do. Jim invited me to breakfast with him and one of his “sponsors”, strongly urging me to go.
It was so tempting! Mmm…the thought of hot coffee and bacon and eggs and hash browns! I was so wet, though, already beginning to shiver. I could just see myself miserable and cold all though breakfast, having to wait for a ride back to my bike. I’d also have to take everything off my bike and lock it up, and I really didn’t want to do that.
So I opted for heading back out into the rain. I was thoroughly soaked and very cold by the time I got home. It took me some time to warm up, and it took all day for my shoes to dry, despite their sojourn on the open oven door (I’d turned it on to low to speed the process). I spent time that day listing what would have made it more comfortable to ride in the rain when we’re on the road.
We had another chance to practice our rain-riding skills under very different circumstances a few weeks ago. This time I had checked the weather; we had a 20% chance of rain. Liar, liar pants on fire…we were caught by rain before we reached the Inlet. We took refuge, chatting with another cyclist who pulled in when we did. We passed a very pleasant hour till the worst of the storm was over.
Hah! So much for positive thinking! We were caught by an absolute gully-washer at least five miles from home, the kind that floods the streets within minutes. It was one of the great ones, even by Florida standards. We could hardly see to ride, and had to ride in the middle of the road, carefully dodging cars that wanted to pass. The looks on the drivers’ faces were priceless. You could just hear the thoughts, “Look at those bicyclists! What are they doing out like this! Are they nuts?”
We got so wet so fast that our clothes were completely waterlogged. The thick chamois in my cycling shorts was so soaked and holding so much water that when I sat down suddenly after dodging a car, the water had nowhere to go in my tight spandex shorts, so it created a small channel up the side of my leg. For the next two miles I had a sloshing effect in my shorts on my left leg as my leg pumped up and down with each pedal stroke. It felt like taking a narrow bottle of water and turning it up and down, up and down, up and down, as the water sloshed back and forth, unable to escape.
Our new Keen sandals were awesome, a definite winner – they dried in a heartbeat. We had to take a blow-dryer to our bikes an hour or so later; our shorts and jerseys went right into the washer. We decided that our shorts wouldn’t be rain gear for our trip, nor would my shirt, but the Keens made the cut. Rain shorts and rain jackets are looking good about now!