SIX thousand and FIVE hundred lumens !!!!!!!!!!

On 10/10/2018 1:25 PM, 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/

I understand your clothing approach. It's similar to what I did for long
rides in winter, where every item is very specific to the conditions and
all chosen to work together.

One problem for me is that if it's going to be raining a lot, I'll just
stay home. (We don't get a long rainy season like you do.)

The corollary is this: If I'm out riding and it begins to rain, I'm in
clothes much different than you describe. Two rainy rides this year
started off fine and dry, and rain wasn't predicted until long after I
got back. So the weatherman goofed again.

For one of the rides, I had just slogged through some long distasteful
project - perhaps income tax? - and I wanted to burn off steam with a
quick 15 miler. I wasn't even in riding clothes. When the downpour came,
all I had was my rain cape in my seat bag. Unfortunately, my fender flap
had somehow escaped from its normal place at the bottom of my handlebar
bag.

I'll readily admit a rain cape is far from perfect. I ride on the hoods,
and I get an irritating puddle in the cape between my forearms. I
usually sit on the back of the cape, but sides do flap and let water in.
And the fabric against my (usually) bare forearms makes them feel wet
and clammy. (Maybe I should add some polypro arm warmers to the rain
cape bag.)

As I see it, the main benefit of the cape is that it keeps the legs
somewhat dry without requiring any special costume down there. It
worked, at least after a fashion, when riding home from work in casual
slacks.

At one time, John Forester tried to sell custom fitted rain capes. As I
recall you had to send in a bunch of measurements of your body on the
bike, and he (or someone) made up something that was kept taut and
un-flappy by your body. But I was never tempted to actually buy one.

--
- Frank Krygowski