Rainy Commute Home



Weather forecast at 1 PM
Weather forecast at 1 PM
I finally had a chance to ride int he rain last night.  It rained for the whole hour and 45 minute commute home.

This was the first real test of my Shower Pass Elite 2.1 jacket using the hood.  I was eager to see if rain water would drip from my head and helmet down my neck and into my jacket.  My old Burley rain jacket was nice, but it had this flaw and I was always annoyed that I was warm and dry except for the rain dripping off my head.

Weather forecast at 7 PM
 Most of the time down here in SW Georgia the rain is nice and warm, but this time of year the temperature will drop 10 to 20 degrees on my commute home.  Last night according to my Garmin I started riding and the temperature was 59 degrees and when I finished it was 39 degrees.
Weather forecast at 7 PM

Selecting the correct clothing to wear with these temperature variances is tricky.  figuring out this puzzle is part of the fun of bike commuting.  sometimes I get is so right and sometimes I fail miserably. I like using the Shower Pass jacked because it is light yet wind proof.  I can ride with it and if I get too hot I can loosen the sleeves at my wrists and unzip the large vents under each arm and let in some cool air.

The tricky part of riding in the rain when it is cold is dressing so that you are not too hot, but as the temperature drops and I get wet I do not want to get too cold.  Last night I nailed it with my upper torso and my legs.  my hands started to get really cold as I have not replaced my worn out Seal  Skin gloves.  I was using my Pearl Izumi clam shell gloves over some long finger cycling gloves.  I knew they would get soaked, but I just wanted my hands to be warm for the ride home.

My bike picked up the usual road grit as I rode.  Typically with brake pads the rim will get scored when you use the brakes and there is a lot of fine debris getting thrown up on your rim from the rain.  I never have to worry about this when riding with disc brakes.  I did hear a little noise coming from my brakes as I rode.  I figured debris was getting on the rotors so I depressed each brake slightly to clean it off and the noise went away.  On my mountain bike I never hear this sort of noise I suppose because there is so much other noise from the bike rolling over gravel.  On the road bike I hear every little noise out on a quite country road.


Location: Albany, GA, USA

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