Anyone find they ride better in the rain?

[Fab Foodie]

So, this morning 4 hardy Freewheeling souls met in the rain for a 30-40 ish miler. Wet, but once moving warm enough. Lots of standing water on the roads. I probably rode better than I have all year, by a considerable margin. This got me thinking, some, maybe most of my best rides in terms of performance have been done in summer/warm rain including my longest ever ride FNRttC to Brighton and back where it rained pretty much all the way through the night and was stair-rods all the way back to London the next morning. I ride well in warm rain.
The only thing I can think of is the cooling effect or rain, I don't deal well with body heat and find that in warm rain I maintain a very comfortable temperature whilst moving (without a waterproof I may add).
I could have ridden for many hours more today, even hills dissolved in front of me...
Is it just me?

 

[gavroche]

Yes.

 

[Banjo]

Depends on the roads I would think. Well surfaced roads with few junctions then maybe the cooling effect would help.
Steep twisty descents /dodgy surfaces then you would need to slow down.

 

[Herzog]

It often feels as if I go faster in the rain, though ave. speeds do not agree.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

No. I am always slower in the rain. However it does often feel easier when the roads are wet, as though the bike has less rolling resistance.

 

[HLaB]

Depends on the technicality of the road and how waterlogged I am but I think I've sprinted home a few time in the rain to save getting too wet but that's probably more down to motivation than anything else, if I'm waterlogged I'll go slower and I don't feel safe on bends/ down hills I'll go slower too.

 

[Willo]

Have always enjoyed running in the rain but, while I don't mind getting wet, it slows me down when cycling because the wet makes the cycling more hazardous and, as a consequence, me more nervy.

 

[ultraviolet]

i normaly ride faster in the rain; just want to get back home quicker

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I'm slower in the wet, I got up this morning looked out the window at the rain, looked at the forecast and went back to bed, should have been cycling to Newtown Linford..

 

[Boris Bajic]

No. Are you mad? Bicycles are soluble in rain. So are cyclists.

I had to retrieve a car from 5 miles away over some major hills this evening - after a 5-mile walk with my youngest to teach him about hills, maps and crap weather.

5 miles may not sound much, but it was pissing down (as it had been all day) and there was a Force-25 hurricane blowing in my face and it was crap, crap, crap.

Rain is no good. Wind is no good. Are you quite mad?

Faster in the rain? Pah!

 

[HLaB]

No. Are you mad? Bicycles are soluble in rain.

Only if they are made of carbon

 

[Vapin' Joe]

When I started racing back in the day time trialists used to claim that rain meant there was more oxygen in the air and provided it wasn't cold or heavy enough to cause a hazard it improved performance.

 

[Melonfish]

I can't stand cycling in the boiling heat and the sun. warm rain however is brill no need for waterproofs because your skin is waterproof enough. you get to laugh like a loon when people look at you in an odd way too
some of my best cycling has been done in the rain.

 

[martint235]

I don't mind cycling in the rain (good thing really as an all year commuter) however I find that I'm more nervy in the rain, or maybe just less confident. I'm unlikely to be going flat out in the rain due to worries about manhole covers etc.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I can't stand cycling in the boiling heat and the sun. warm rain however is brill no need for waterproofs because your skin is waterproof enough. you get to laugh like a loon when people look at you in an odd way too
some of my best cycling has been done in the rain.

That's certainly true for me. There's something in the mentalness that powers me along. I'm crap on hot days though.