September officially made its presence known. Around here, September's usually a pretty soggy month.
The weather folks were talking about "pop-up storms" this afternoon. While it looked a little overcast around noon, it was quite pleasant and sunny. No "pop-up" storms here. No sir. Just sunshine, a light breeze, and the road. Sure, there were fluffy clouds, but not anything to worry about.
The clouds got a little more ominous. Entering Kansas, I started noticing puddles, and moist pavement. It'd recently rained here. Karen, riding in front of me for a while, was throwing a road-grime rooster-tail without fenders. Passing Antioch, I got around Karen and that's when all hell broke loose. Karen, riding on Merriam Lane.
Time to use the rain covers!
In a mere 10 minutes, it had stopped raining. 5 minutes after that, you couldn't even tell it had rained, except for some standing water in the pavement cracks. Refreshing Surprise!
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Jack In A Box
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6 comments:
All I know is the weather was great and then rode home. Murphy's Law regarding me and rain: If it can rain, it will..directly over me...for at least 90% of my ride.
I officially need some rain gear...
Well, at least the bees weren't out this time.
I think rain gear's over-rated if it's above 65 degrees or so. Okay, maybe closer to 70. Yesterday's rain was kind of welcome. Except for the part where all that slimy sweaty sloughed-off skin that had been permeating my helmet pads decided to wash out and into my face and sting my eyes... Lesson learned: Wash the helmet every week, because every 2 weeks just isn't enough!
September's a month of transition. It won't be long before I find myself riding to work in long sleeves and cargo pants, then riding home in shorts and a running shirt. I hate carrying extra clothes on the bike, but not as much as I hate paying for parking and gasoline.
As far as rain gear goes, gore-tex is expensive and tears easily on pants due to the way you sit on a saddle, but it's breathable and works pretty well as long as it's not too warm out. A lot of times, if it's really raining and really cold, I use the bike and the bus, and wear a decent rain-resistant jacket and let my legs get a little wet. I know that's not an option for everyone. The Commuting forum over at BikeForums.net usually gets pretty hardcore with great rain and snow advice this time of year.
Crazy, random weather. Yikes!
The main issue I seem to have with rain is the inability to see while riding. I'll have to check out the forum for advice on riding eye wear that is inexpensive. I have rain jackets and such that "can" work and I'm not too concerned with my legs at the average temperature for this time of year. But blinding rain tends to slow me down quite a bit and some fenders would be nice. Man, the list never ends...
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