On Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at 1:57:03 PM UTC-7, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at 1:26:01 PM UTC-4, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at 9:35:17 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 10/10/2018 1:35 AM, news18 wrote:
On Tue, 09 Oct 2018 22:02:14 -0400, Frank Krygowski wrote:



I've tried rain pants only once, IIRC. IMO there can't possibly be
enough ventilation. But I admit, I know no really comfortable way of
riding in the rain.

Use 1: a cape, 2: mudguards and 3: sandals. (Wool soxes/socks if it is
cold). Caveat, I made the cape myself.

Plenty of ventilation.

That's what I usually use, except for the sandals part, although I have
friends who love their riding sandals. The mud flap on my fender takes
care of most road spray at my feet. Shoe covers over my toe clips offer
further help when necessary.

But I'm still not really comfortable riding in the rain, unless it's the
lightest sprinkle.

I've never used a rain cape and hate things that flap. For long rides in the rain, I wear basically this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIzz9VBdKCU Showers Pass jacket, PI Amfib tights, Gore booties (or one of my four or five pairs of booties). I wear a poly pro base layer and a mid-layer.. This time of year, wool is a good mid-layer. I have some lightweight long-finger Giro gloves my son got on pro deal that are good for early fall, and I switch to more robust gloves as the temperatures drop.

That video has snippets of Larch Mountain (cut back and forth with hills practically in my back yard -- odd), which is a 14.5 mile climb and probably the hardest ride for picking clothing since it can be 50F at the bottom and snow at the top. You have to have something that vents really well for the climb, stays relatively dry and zips up tight for the descent. I also take a light vest and an ear band or balaclava to put on at the top.

I've told this story before, but the RT from my house to the top of Larch Mountain is 90 miles depending on route, and I did it with some friends entirely in the rain -- all day from beginning to end. Everyone got hypothermic on the descent. We had to stop repeatedly to warm up. Half the group called their wives for a ride home from Corbett. I had pretty good layering and revitalized with a life-saving corn dog at the Corbett store (and stood over a heating vent) http://columbiariverimages.com/Image...t_06-30-14.jpg , and although I suffered in the freezing rain coming down the mountain, the ride home was reasonably comfortable.

Everything soaks through eventually, and you have to pick layers that will keep you reasonably warm when wet. IMO, booties are the most important.. I can't stand cold swamp feet. Everybody has fenders and rain bikes. You get shunned on a group ride if you don't have flaps on your fenders. https://www.flickr.com/photos/krheap...7632139896627/

-- Jay Beattie.

I still remember the bicycling adage folr when riding in the rain especially a heavy rain. "You're wet and cold or you're wet and warm but either way you're wet". That adage was true whether one was wearing waterproof breathable clothing, waterproof only clothing or regular clothing. When honking up a steep climb or otherwise exerting myself I found that the waterproof breathable jackets didn't vent sweat or other body moisture fast enough to prevent my clothing getting wet. At least the jacket was windproof which stopped me from getting hypothermia.

BTW, true hypothermia requires medical treatment and can NOT be overcome simple by standing someplace warm. In fact true hypothermia plus an external heating source can be fatal. One of the greatest treatments for hypothermia these days is to give the victim WARM air or oxygen via a face mask so that the body warms from the inside towards the outside.

Well, lucky for me, I was riding with my panniers filled with, among other things, a heart bypass machine and an O2 bottle. I used the bypass machine to recirculate and warm my blood and huffed a little on the 02. There were a whole bunch of other cyclists suffering like me, so I warmed their blood too, and then I pulled them back to Portland with my rope. I always keep rope with me so I can tow people. We all stopped at a brewpub on the way home. The people at the pub said, "hey, don't you know that it's raining out there!" We had a big laugh together.

-- Jay Beattie.