I`m done.....

[DCBassman]

bloody hell...….why is it so hard for folk to accept , some folk do like riding in the rain , other folk don't, it doesn't make either right or wrong,

Exactly, not rocket science, is it?

 

[pawl]

Proves you’ve lost touch with the outdoors and become softened by 21st century “comforts”

It proves nothing I have been cycling since I was 15 ,a total of64 years.in all sorts of conditions.I am now more selective when I ride due to odd niggling aches and pains,Nothing serious but damp wet cold weather doesn’t help.Iam not going to put at risk what ever remains of my cycling life.
If some on here don’t enjoy cycling in the rain so what.You don’t now there physical/medical circumstances.
If you enjoy cycling in adverse conditions that is up to you Kudos to you but don’t belittle those of us that prefer to ride in more clement conditions

 

[Oxford Dave]

Try riding 300 miles on a motorbike in torrential rain wearing "Waterproof" gear that fails in anything above a heavy dew and then come back and tell us how you enjoyed it. And I didn't do that because I'm a hardman, I did it because I had no choice.

I once rode from eastern Finland to the south of England on a motorcycle, non stop except for petrol breaks (which included coffee, mars bar & a quick visit to the gents). It was raining when I left home in Finland and didn't stop until I left the tunnel terminal in Folkestone. In 1700 miles I was able to sample Finnish, Swedish, Danish, German, Dutch, Belgian, and French rain. It all felt the same - cold and wet. It wasn't fun.
The last time I did the same journey, I made sure of good weather by carrying waterproofs.

 

[DRM]

63 years ago (before the M6 was built) my dad took the family up to Scotland from the Midlands. We didn't have a car at the time - he had a sidecar on his motorbike in which were sat my pregnant mum, baby me, and my 5 year old sister!

We got caught out in a thunderstorm going over Shap Fell and it sounds like my dad developed hypothermia. We had to stop at a pub beyond the Fell for my father to dry out and recover.

I think someone mentioned it earlier in the thread... All this talk about mudguards, the right clothing, 'man up' and so on is all very well, but if you are out in the wilds and have a mechanical problem such as a puncture in poor weather conditions you can end up in serious trouble. I WAS wearing the right clothing on one winter ride and was doing fine until a tyre went flat. Within 5 minutes of stopping I started shivering violently as the sweat on my body rapidly cooled down. My fingers went completely numb once I took my gloves off and I had a long, desperate struggle to fix the puncture. Bad news!

I remember an episode of one of Ray Mears survival programmes where he said it’s a given that you should always leave matches with at least one with the stick part poking out of the box, with the head inside the box and tinder easily available when leaving a bothy, as when you are very cold, your fingers just don’t work very well, by doing this you could quite easily be saving the life of someone who is borderline or is actually hypothermic, by giving them a fighting chance of getting a fire going, a lot of people don’t realise just how easy it is by being wet, along with windchill to be a victim of hypothermia, unfortunately one of the symptoms is confusion, which can lead to lethal decisions being made, which if you are alone could well be the beginning of your demise if you don’t know what to do, as is someone unwittingly warming the victim too quickly.

 

[iateyoubutler]

I remember an episode of one of Ray Mears survival programmes where he said it’s a given that you should always leave matches with at least one with the stick part poking out of the box, with the head inside the box and tinder easily available when leaving a bothy, as when you are very cold, your fingers just don’t work very well, by doing this you could quite easily be saving the life of someone who is borderline or is actually hypothermic, by giving them a fighting chance of getting a fire going, a lot of people don’t realise just how easy it is by being wet, along with windchill to be a victim of hypothermia, unfortunately one of the symptoms is confusion, which can lead to lethal decisions being made, which if you are alone could well be the beginning of your demise if you don’t know what to do, as is someone unwittingly warming the victim too quickly.

I`ve had it, 3 times over the last 20 years, and always through unavoidable circumstances, it`s nice a nice place to go to.....

But, as others have said here I`ve got too used to 21st century comforts, too soft, when the going gets tough the tough get going, the wrong clothes, should read rule no5, etc etc.............

Sorry, not a pop at you my friend

 

[classic33]

I`ve had it, 3 times over the last 20 years, and always through unavoidable circumstances, it`s nice a nice place to go to.....

But, as others have said here I`ve got too used to 21st century comforts, too soft, when the going gets tough the tough get going, the wrong clothes, should read rule no5, etc etc.............

Sorry, not a pop at you my friend

Everyone reacts differently to the same situation, why should you be any different?

 

[DRM]

...for you.

Unless it’s icy, grip is rarely affected to any serious extent.

I‘d rather be out cycling in shoot weather, than working in a warm office anytime. Too much is made of “shoot weather” when really it’s just raining which is easily dealt with. It can and usually is very enjoyable cycling out in the hills or lanes in the rain but does depend on your mindset.

Perhaps if you do work in a warm office you may feel inclined to go outside in the rain, however those who have to work outside in this lot, getting wet through and frozen to the bone, and find it takes ages to get warm once you get home, the idea of going out for a bike ride in it is, less then appealing, all I can say is thank god for Zwift so at least I can keep my fitness up for when the decent weather, hopefully shows up.

 

[DRM]

I`ve had it, 3 times over the last 20 years, and always through unavoidable circumstances, it`s nice a nice place to go to.....

But, as others have said here I`ve got too used to 21st century comforts, too soft, when the going gets tough the tough get going, the wrong clothes, should read rule no5, etc etc.............

Sorry, not a pop at you my friend

No offence taken, and no it’s not a nice place to be in, and I also agree life’s to short to be miserable, hopefully the sun will start to show itself soon and we can all enjoy some decent weather, whatever we are up to in the great outdoors

 

[Algarvecycling]

I don't go out in the rain or very strong winds, don't need to, thankfully as a warm Sunny day is the norm. But, if I lived in the UK now, I would be on Zwift for Winter and rainy days. I grew up in a Sunny clime so it is what I am used to, of course, which does affect my outlook, naturally.

I'm not impressed by someone thinking that they are 'tough' because they ride in all conditions, if they want to and feel a sense of achievement from that then that is great for them, kudos, but equally, if it does nothing for you and only makes your cycling less enjoyable, then I'm all for staying indoors, or, like me, move to place where adverse weather is infrequent.

If you commute and have no alternative transport on bad weather days, then yeah, I get that you might have to face those bad conditions regardless but then you are cycling those days not necessarily for fun but to get to work, different thing. If you are training for events, racing, then you can do as well with indoor training; braving all conditions doesn't make you faster - I've raced against tough all-weather cyclists plenty of times and my 'wussy' approach to weather has not seemed to make any difference, I still have to wait for them to finish at the end.

 

[DRM]

Just watching the recording of the tour of the Algarve, any chance you could courier some of the weather to West Yorkshire please,

 

[Crankarm]

Does seem to have been exceptional this year. I'm sick to death of it myself. Thankfully, I am retired so don't have to cycle in it. Think I've only managed out half a dozen times this year so far.

Maybe there can't be much more of the wet stuff left up there and we will have a long, glorious and dry spring and summer.

Don't count on it.

 

[Crankarm]

I clean my commuting bike once or twice a year (I do the chain and sprockets 4 times a year). It's a fixie and has mudguards. You can get away with even less cleaning - I once went 2 years without cleaning a hub-geared bike with a coaster brake.

I clean my Surly Troll which has Rohloff hub, full chain guard and disc brakes once a year and even this is too frequent as I reckon I could easily go for cleaning intervals of 2 years or never at all. I just got a belt drive bike with IHG and disc brakes which is not so high maintenance as my Troll. Happy days.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Proper mudguards and flaps and you don’t need to be cleaning a bike much. Just look after drive train and it’ll be right.

 

[mjr]

.
I think someone mentioned it earlier in the thread... All this talk about mudguards, the right clothing, 'man up' and so on is all very well, but if you are out in the wilds and have a mechanical problem such as a puncture in poor weather conditions you can end up in serious trouble. I WAS wearing the right clothing on one winter ride and was doing fine until a tyre went flat. Within 5 minutes of stopping I started shivering violently as the sweat on my body rapidly cooled down. My fingers went completely numb once I took my gloves off and I had a long, desperate struggle to fix the puncture. Bad news!

1. Wear thermal waterproofs, or at least carry them and don them as soon as possible once stopped. Yes, you'll still be sweaty but not frozen.
2. Carry a sealant canister in winter. You might still break your bike and need to do a real repair but punctures are common enough to be worth spending £5 on a tin not to stop and freeze IMO.

I don't much like riding in rain but that's why I wear real waterproof waterproofs and slow down a bit to prevent or at least minimise sweating. It's a £30ish hiking coat because cycling waterproofs seem to have gone crazy and merely drizzleproof seems to qualify as waterproof until you get up to spending really big money. :Wacko:

 

[classic33]

1. Wear thermal waterproofs, or at least carry them and don them as soon as possible once stopped. Yes, you'll still be sweaty but not frozen.
2. Carry a sealant canister in winter. You might still break your bike and need to do a real repair but punctures are common enough to be worth spending £5 on a tin not to stop and freeze IMO.

I don't much like riding in rain but that's why I wear real waterproof waterproofs and slow down a bit to prevent or at least minimise sweating. It's a £30ish hiking coat because cycling waterproofs seem to have gone crazy and merely drizzleproof seems to qualify as waterproof until you get up to spending really big money. :Wacko:

Taking any layer off in the cold, when cold isn't exactly the best way. Removing more than one will take time, heat loss will increase.

Normal method is to add a layer on top off what is already being worn. Thereby avoiding any further heat loss.