QUICK! What does Water RESISTANT mean?

I'm going home in an hour. It is POURING outside. I have a Cannondale
Chrono bright yellow jacket, water resistant. I also have a Kmart
special three piece rain suit. I need to wear the bottom of the Kmart
special since I'm wearing jeans. I likely will need the hood. But for
the jacket, will the CC do? I suspect that wearing the Kmart special
jacket will leave me sweating to death anyway. It's around 55F.

This is my very first commute home (12 miles) in a heavy rain, and
only my third where it will end up dark. Dark and Rain. Good combo.

On the plus side, my Raptor NightHawk light just arrived and is
already charged. So I install that prior to leaving.

dgk wrote:
I'm going home in an hour. It is POURING outside. I have a Cannondale
Chrono bright yellow jacket, water resistant. I also have a Kmart
special three piece rain suit. I need to wear the bottom of the Kmart
special since I'm wearing jeans. I likely will need the hood. But for
the jacket, will the CC do? I suspect that wearing the Kmart special
jacket will leave me sweating to death anyway. It's around 55F.

I'd wear the Cannondale jacket. Either way, you'll probably
get soaked through, either from sweat or water. The CC jacket will
be enough to ward off any chill. 55F is warm. Wait till you're riding
in wet, windy, 30F weather.

Your jeans are going to get drenched, regardless of what you
are wearing over them.

I'd probably skip the hood. Do you have a hat or helmet
with a visor? That'll keep most of the rain off your face.

This is my very first commute home (12 miles) in a heavy rain, and
only my third where it will end up dark. Dark and Rain. Good combo.
On the plus side, my Raptor NightHawk light just arrived and is
already charged. So I install that prior to leaving.

Good kit. I've been using NightHawk Dual Pros on my MTB and
a Raptor on my commuter for a few years. Water doesn't seem
to hurt them a bit, other than the screws on the mounting
bracket getting a bit rusty.

Justen

On 4 Nov 2004 13:33:27 -0700, justen wrote:

dgk wrote:
I'm going home in an hour. It is POURING outside. I have a Cannondale
Chrono bright yellow jacket, water resistant. I also have a Kmart
special three piece rain suit. I need to wear the bottom of the Kmart
special since I'm wearing jeans. I likely will need the hood. But for
the jacket, will the CC do? I suspect that wearing the Kmart special
jacket will leave me sweating to death anyway. It's around 55F.

I'd wear the Cannondale jacket. Either way, you'll probably
get soaked through, either from sweat or water. The CC jacket will
be enough to ward off any chill. 55F is warm. Wait till you're riding
in wet, windy, 30F weather.

55 is warm. I've done a lot of riding in the rain, and you'll be sweating
in 10 minutes, or less.

Today I rode 90 min in 46 F pouring rain. I wish I had worn a glove liner,
or brought a spare pair of cycling gloves. I wore full-fingered house brand
Performance. They got completely soaked fairly soon, but I never got so
cold my finger tips had a problem. Kinda wish I had remembered to bring my
balaclava, if only just to keep the mud spray off my hair. I adjusted, but
that bit of extra protection would have left me feeling -very- comfortable
and able to do twice that time. I'm going to pack a pair of rubber surgical
gloves in my seat pack, just in case I get caught like that again.

Your jeans are going to get drenched, regardless of what you
are wearing over them.

Consider cutting the pants of the K-mart suit to 3/4 length. Roll up the
jeans.

I'd probably skip the hood. Do you have a hat or helmet
with a visor? That'll keep most of the rain off your face.

Take your bike helmet with you and check K-mart for shower caps. You might
find a stylish one that fits perfectly.

Fabio in 3...2...1...

This is my very first commute home (12 miles) in a heavy rain, and
only my third where it will end up dark. Dark and Rain. Good combo.
On the plus side, my Raptor NightHawk light just arrived and is
already charged. So I install that prior to leaving.

Good kit. I've been using NightHawk Dual Pros on my MTB and
a Raptor on my commuter for a few years. Water doesn't seem
to hurt them a bit, other than the screws on the mounting
bracket getting a bit rusty.

Justen

If you're caught at work with no rain gear, find a large garbage bag and
cut holes in it; stuff your shirt with newspaper for warmth.

-B
Fabio has +left+ the building.

On 4 Nov 2004 13:33:27 -0700, justen wrote:

dgk wrote:
I'm going home in an hour. It is POURING outside. I have a Cannondale
Chrono bright yellow jacket, water resistant. I also have a Kmart
special three piece rain suit. I need to wear the bottom of the Kmart
special since I'm wearing jeans. I likely will need the hood. But for
the jacket, will the CC do? I suspect that wearing the Kmart special
jacket will leave me sweating to death anyway. It's around 55F.

I'd wear the Cannondale jacket. Either way, you'll probably
get soaked through, either from sweat or water. The CC jacket will
be enough to ward off any chill. 55F is warm. Wait till you're riding
in wet, windy, 30F weather.

Your jeans are going to get drenched, regardless of what you
are wearing over them.

I'd probably skip the hood. Do you have a hat or helmet
with a visor? That'll keep most of the rain off your face.

This is my very first commute home (12 miles) in a heavy rain, and
only my third where it will end up dark. Dark and Rain. Good combo.
On the plus side, my Raptor NightHawk light just arrived and is
already charged. So I install that prior to leaving.

Good kit. I've been using NightHawk Dual Pros on my MTB and
a Raptor on my commuter for a few years. Water doesn't seem
to hurt them a bit, other than the screws on the mounting
bracket getting a bit rusty.

Justen

Temperature down to 49F but no wind. I'll use the Cannondale, starting
without a middle layer and see if I need one. I have a fleece middle
layer that I'll keep in the knapsack. No visor, I'm going to get rain
in the face. That's ok. The hood (transparent) detaches from the BIG
BAG from Kmart, so I'll likely just wear it under my helmet to keep
water from running down my neck. It won't block visibility and fits
under the helmet really nicely. Well, it is just a piece of PVC. It
shouldn't be too warm.

Weather.Com shows more heavy rain approaching. Luckily (well, arranged
that way) my bike is under an overhang and I should be able to attach
the new light without much trouble.

Wait till you're riding in wet, windy, 30F weather.

I can wait. Delayed gratification and all that. Thanks for the advice.

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 15:43:45 -0500, Badger_South
wrote:

On 4 Nov 2004 13:33:27 -0700, justen wrote:

55 is warm. I've done a lot of riding in the rain, and you'll be sweating
in 10 minutes, or less.

Today I rode 90 min in 46 F pouring rain. I wish I had worn a glove liner,
or brought a spare pair of cycling gloves. I wore full-fingered house brand
Performance. They got completely soaked fairly soon, but I never got so
cold my finger tips had a problem. Kinda wish I had remembered to bring my
balaclava, if only just to keep the mud spray off my hair. I adjusted, but
that bit of extra protection would have left me feeling -very- comfortable
and able to do twice that time. I'm going to pack a pair of rubber surgical
gloves in my seat pack, just in case I get caught like that again.

I sort of prepared. I knew it was likely to rain today. I always have
one of those super-thin ponchos in the bag. It weighs nothing.

Your jeans are going to get drenched, regardless of what you
are wearing over them.

Consider cutting the pants of the K-mart suit to 3/4 length. Roll up the
jeans.

That's an idea. But I do have some booties to wear over the sneakers
and I sort of figured that the pants would fit over the top of the
booties. At the very least I'll take some rubber bands to keep the
baggy pants out of the chain.

I'd probably skip the hood. Do you have a hat or helmet
with a visor? That'll keep most of the rain off your face.

Take your bike helmet with you and check K-mart for shower caps. You might
find a stylish one that fits perfectly.

Fabio in 3...2...1...



If you're caught at work with no rain gear, find a large garbage bag and
cut holes in it; stuff your shirt with newspaper for warmth.

Yea, we do have a stock of those bags. They've been useful before even
without a bike. Newspaper is a nice idea to keep in mind. Boy, I bet
the ink runoff is spectacular.

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 15:56:49 -0500, dgk
wrote:

Yea, we do have a stock of those bags. They've been useful before even
without a bike. Newspaper is a nice idea to keep in mind. Boy, I bet
the ink runoff is spectacular.

You crumple it. the idea is to make insulation, create dead air spaces. A
little goes a long way. It doesn't really run, b/c only the corners of the
crumpled ball are touching you. Typiclly, though this tip is if you get
caught away from home and you are sweaty and get a flat, and have to walk
the bike for a while. If you're wet and don't have extra clothes, you can
get hypothermia, istm. Pretty easy to find pine needles, leaves or
newspaper.

-B
thanks to Claire for the newspaper tip.

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 15:48:15 -0500, dgk
wrote:

On 4 Nov 2004 13:33:27 -0700, justen wrote:

dgk wrote:
I'm going home in an hour. It is POURING outside. I have a Cannondale
Chrono bright yellow jacket, water resistant. I also have a Kmart
special three piece rain suit. I need to wear the bottom of the Kmart
special since I'm wearing jeans. I likely will need the hood. But for
the jacket, will the CC do? I suspect that wearing the Kmart special
jacket will leave me sweating to death anyway. It's around 55F.

I'd wear the Cannondale jacket. Either way, you'll probably
get soaked through, either from sweat or water. The CC jacket will
be enough to ward off any chill. 55F is warm. Wait till you're riding
in wet, windy, 30F weather.

Your jeans are going to get drenched, regardless of what you
are wearing over them.

I'd probably skip the hood. Do you have a hat or helmet
with a visor? That'll keep most of the rain off your face.

This is my very first commute home (12 miles) in a heavy rain, and
only my third where it will end up dark. Dark and Rain. Good combo.
On the plus side, my Raptor NightHawk light just arrived and is
already charged. So I install that prior to leaving.

Good kit. I've been using NightHawk Dual Pros on my MTB and
a Raptor on my commuter for a few years. Water doesn't seem
to hurt them a bit, other than the screws on the mounting
bracket getting a bit rusty.

Justen

Temperature down to 49F but no wind. I'll use the Cannondale, starting
without a middle layer and see if I need one. I have a fleece middle
layer that I'll keep in the knapsack. No visor, I'm going to get rain
in the face. That's ok. The hood (transparent) detaches from the BIG
BAG from Kmart, so I'll likely just wear it under my helmet to keep
water from running down my neck. It won't block visibility and fits
under the helmet really nicely. Well, it is just a piece of PVC. It
shouldn't be too warm.

If your helmet fits properly, you probably will have some trouble wearing
it over a kmart hood. In addition this is bad, b/c the attached sides of
the hood can block your periperal vision. I'd just roll the hood down and
use a showercap over the helmet.

Weather.Com shows more heavy rain approaching. Luckily (well, arranged
that way) my bike is under an overhang and I should be able to attach
the new light without much trouble.

Wait till you're riding in wet, windy, 30F weather.

I can wait. Delayed gratification and all that. Thanks for the advice.

It was a wonderful day for a bike ride. I might consider a very light
application of rainex spray on the polycarbonates, next time, though.

-B

dgk wrote:
I'm going home in an hour. It is POURING outside. I have a Cannondale
Chrono bright yellow jacket, water resistant.

It means you got wet.

--Blair
"Just don't shower under water in it."

dgk wrote:

This is my very first commute home (12 miles) in a heavy rain, and
only my third where it will end up dark. Dark and Rain. Good combo.

Just remember. You can only get *so* wet. After that you just make
squishy sounds. I doubt you'll melt.



--
Dane Jackson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
Nietzsche says that we will live the same life, over and over again.
God -- I'll have to sit through the Ice Capades again.
-- Woody Allen, "Hannah and Her Sisters"

dgk wrote:
This is my very first commute home (12 miles) in a heavy rain, and
only my third where it will end up dark. Dark and Rain. Good combo.


I was out riding today. It was 1 degree above freezing, and raining hard
all day. I was out for probably 2 hours in total, cruising around
comfortably, and arriving at my destinations in about the usual time it
takes and without excessive sweating. How do I do it?

I use one of those flimsy ponchos. The kind with little plastic snaps
holding it together. The back of the poncho goes over my courier bag, and
tucks into my belt to keep from flapping. The front of the poncho I hold
over the handlebars, forming a shield in front that keeps my torso and
legs dry. A bicycle specific poncho with an elastic ass and loops to hook
over thumbs or handlebars up front would be nice, but mine is a plain old
$2 special. The secret is that it's WIDE OPEN, but blocks rain coming at
me from my front, where it's most important. I roll up my sleeves under
the poncho and ride with exposed arms. The skin on my arms turns pretty
red while I'm riding, but my core temperature is always good and I don't
get too sweaty. Combined with full fenders, I barely get wet at all.
Actually the only thing to watch out for is spray from cars, and also
putting your foot down into a deep puddle in a pothole (I wear wool socks
and sneakers).

The nicest part is that when I hop off the bike I have only to remove my
lightweight poncho and gloves and I'm wearing my dry, comfy, and very much
not water resistant indoor clothes. If my pants weren't still tucked into
my sock on one side you wouldn't even know I biked there.

You should be dressed so that if you were to stand around without cycling
you would start shivering after not too long. This way, when you start
moving, you'll warm up to a nice temperature instead of overheating. Also,
if you need to stop riding you won't be drenched in sweat (or rain) so
you'll stay warm a lot longer.