I`m done with rain

[iateyoubutler]

After 20 years of cycling, through all winds and weathers, I`ve got to admit defeat when it comes to the bloody rain. It never used to bother me, but over the last 12 months the rot has started to set in, and as somebody who commutes to work every day, it`s dry weather only from now on. I`m sick and tired of relentlessly washing/drying kit just to put in on fresh to be p*ssed on 30 minutes later, it does the bike no good, my shoes/backpack etc are all stinking because they don`t dry out, and it`s just generally miserable. My tools have gone rusty, my lights have gone back to exposure to be repaired more times than I can count, a set of brake pads can be killed in a week, and I hate it!!

I had ONE dry ride to work the other day and it was lovely, but over the last 3 weeks I`ve done the drowned rat act, at least once every day, now I`ve had enough......

Breathe..............

Got that off my chest and feel much better

Anybody else hate the rain though?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

When I first started cycling to work I had a spreadsheet of temps, weather, clothing, times etc. I got rained on 6 times in a full year of cycle commuting. Maybe you need to move to a less wet area of the U.K?

 

[iateyoubutler]

I`d love to......

 

[Pale Rider]

@ianrauk has posted his number of wet commutes - surprisingly few.

Having said that, I reckon it rains a bit more than it did 20 or 30 years ago.

Global wetting rather than global warming.

 

[ColinJ]

@ianrauk has posted his number of wet commutes - surprisingly few.

Having said that, I reckon it rains a bit more than it did 20 or 30 years ago.

Global wetting rather than global warming.

I went to university in Manchester/Salford in the mid-1980s. It is supposed to be one of the wetter areas of the UK but in 3 years of doing a 1.5 mile walk each way from my flat (twice 4 days a week and once on Wednesdays) I only got soaked a handful of times. Quite surprising really!

 

[Flying Dodo]

I had nearly 15 years of daily cycle commuting. At one point I kept a note of rainy days, and it did work out to be 1½ days a month. But clearly some parts of the UK are wetter than others. The solution has to be better waterproofs. And disk brakes. Definitely disk brakes.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I had nearly 15 years of daily cycle commuting. At one point I kept a note of rainy days, and it did work out to be 1½ days a month.

How do you make that out?. We've hardly had a single day in the last two weeks when it hasn't rained to some degree or other. Some of the days have been utter filth, and it has pissed it down for hours on end.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

How do you make that out?.

We haven't had a dry day here in the last 8

This was the view to the South of our house this afternoon as I was just about to go out

Unfortunately this was the view to the North

 

[hoopdriver]

We haven't had a dry day here in the last 8

This was the view to the South of our house this afternoon as I was just about to go out

View attachment 487766

Unfortunately this was the view to the North

View attachment 487765

I hope you headed south...

 

[Leodis]

Then when they grit the roads, salt water . Disk brake pad retaining bolt seized on both callipers in one winter

 

[welsh dragon]

I don't blame you for not wanting to go out in the rain. It's horrible. It's one thing when it starts to rain when you are out, but to go out in it is a depressing thought I would think. Horrible weather here. Damp, dark, dull and raining with standing water on the road, then again I live in the foothills of the Cambrian mountains.

I am a fair weather cyclist only. I certainly don't blame you for not wanting to go out in it. Don't take any notice of what anyone else says. If you hate it, don't cycle in it.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I hope you headed south...

I did but I did have to turn North quickly as I ran into difficulties, as I rode on to the drive it started spitting by the time I got around the back of the house it was heavy, by the time I got inside it was torrential & the house isn't that big.

 

[Slick]

I don't cycle every day, still 3 times a week for the moment but it won't be long before cutting that to twice weekly as the weather worsens. Maybe that's why I still enjoy the challenge that a wet commute brings but I also have great drying facilities at work and usually get away with one way being dry, usually the way home with a bit of planning. That said, if you are done with it, your done with it, and enjoy your dry commutes. 👍

 

[G3CWI]

How do you make that out?. We've hardly had a single day in the last two weeks when it hasn't rained to some degree or other. Some of the days have been utter filth, and it has pissed it down for hours on end.

Your statement and the original one are not inconsistent. He is taking about it raining during his commute times. That will be a lot less than days during which rain occurs.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I just cycle every day regardless - I actually find it much better than overthinking the weather. I don't dissolve!

Somewhere to dry clothes is more important than waterproofs IMO. I'm amazed you've had problems with exposure lights, I've had well over a decade out of mine.

Good lights and mud guards are the only essential kit I think.

I don't actively enjoy the rain, but I do enjoy the feeling afterwards.