Can riding in the rain be not miserable? Also related safety questions for bad weather cycling

[maanderx]

Pogies are great on flat bars but AFAIK it's extremely difficult to make them work with drop bars. I used to have them on my motorbike, decades back, and even with zero activity they kept my hands warm all winter.

Pogie Lite are available for drop-bar bikes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=gFdebjGrp-o

[Vantage]

The loops on a cape are for your thumbs!
That way you can get an arm out for an arm signal.

Aha!

[geocycle]

I’ll try and schedule rides around rain but will usually go out if it’s relatively warm. As a rule of thumb, if I can hear the weather through the double glazing, (rain, wind, hail), I’ll think twice! I don’t mind wet legs but I really hate shoes full of water.

[pq]

For me mudguards are key. Within reason I don't mind riding in the rain if I'm on a bike with proper full length mudguards including mudflaps. But if I get caught out on a bike without muguards I find the gritty spray very unpleasant.

[TrevA]

For winter, if it’s icy, I have a few routes based on the county council’s gritting routes. They grit mainly the main roads but also rural bus routes, which you may be able to utilise to make a decent route, depending on where you live.

[biker38109]

For me mudguards are key. Within reason I don't mind riding in the rain if I'm on a bike with proper full length mudguards including mudflaps. But if I get caught out on a bike without muguards I find the gritty spray very unpleasant.

Oh definitely.

The gritty slurry you feel spitting on your bum crack is awful! Also up in your face from the front wheel.

I got caught in the rain again yesterday but this time I just stood under a tree for 15-20 minutes. Quite pleasant to stand there and waiting for it to pass. Good to have waterproofs though if caught and time to get back is an issue.

[pjclinch]

the Cake District

Is this a typo, deliberate humour, or (as I hope) an area for which I urgently need to acquire an OS Map, and get planning a three-month tour of?

Deliberate (up to the observer whether it counts as humour!), and common usage in my circle.

There is no shortage of places to get cake in the Lake/Cake District...

Pete.

[Carlton green]

I take it that the OP knows the value of mudguards in the wet - really the first line of defence.

He seems too. The additional benefit of long and wide mud flaps isn’t obvious to all and I no longer regard them as only ‘nice to have’ (so fit them where and when you can).
Edit. And the width of the mudguards is important too; spray also comes off the tyre’s side, etc., so your guards need to be wider than your tyres.

Plenty of good tips on this thread already. However I don’t think that anyone has mentioned overshoes, when I was commuting and had to cycle in all weathers they were a big help to me. These days, if I had to utility ride in the rain, I’d try wellingtons and over trousers (over them). Mits can keep the chilling wind and some rain off of wet hands. As others have said wet but (still) warm can be ok.

The material that ones clothes are made of is important. Wool has been mentioned and traditional clothes that are well made can be great - imho they’re too often overlooked and underrated. I also like some modern materials that simply shrug off the water (effectively non-absorbent) and retain a layer of wam air in them.

It’s worth noting that cyclists ride in different ways and for different purposes, with that in mind solutions that suit some will not necessarily be ideal for others.

In foul weather visibility is reduced and particularly so for motorists. I tend to wear light coloured clothes, ‘sorry mate I didn’t see you’ might be true but they aren’t words that I want to hear so I try to make it less likely that they are said.

[ANTONISH]

The loops on a cape are for your thumbs!
That way you can get an arm out for an arm signal.
Tie them to the bars? I don’t fancy that….. have to un tie to get off the bike, I would forget!

IME even using the thumb loops as one should, extricating the thumb from the loop in a timely manner is still a problem.
When I was young I liked nothing better than going for a ride in the rain.
A cape really works well and I've never had anything better.
The problem these days is signalling and turning with the level and speed of traffic.
Hence I rarely ride in rain. I have a "waterproof" jacket which is ok for a couple of hours and a pair of cut off waterproof trousers made into shorts reaching just below knee level - I prefer these to "rainlegs" because I don't like the associated straps.

I never ride on ice, at my age you don't bounce.

[Vantage]

I never ride on ice, at my age you don't bounce.

Spiked tyres sir! They do make quite the racket though.

[RodT]

I was caught in one of last Sunday’s downpours while climbing out of Compton Dando in the Mendips. It was torrential. There was thunder and lightning, the lane became a small river and I was instantly drenched, notwithstanding the flimsy Rapha jacket I was wearing. It was utterly exhilarating. The rain was warm and refreshing and the lightning seemed to give me extra energy. Bring it on, I said to my bike. It did not reply. Probably didn’t hear me amid the racket of the storm.
Of course, it would have been a much less enjoyable experience in a cold winter rain. This was sub-tropical.
The downside was the coating of gritty mud all up my back from riding my summer bike with no mudguards.

[Biospace]

The rain was warm and refreshing and the lightning seemed to give me extra energy. Bring it on, I said to my bike.

Ha ha! Lighting always clears the air very nicely and riding through rainstorms is often fun. I've been camping before in heavy summer rain and after a day or two, given the tent is dry and you're well organised for cooking, I've learned to embrace it.

[ANTONISH]

I never ride on ice, at my age you don't bounce.

Spiked tyres sir! They do make quite the racket though.

I forgot to mention that another reason I don't ride on ice, is that I have to rely on motor vehicles being driven according to the conditions.

[Manc33]

I remember biking to work some mornings where I got rained on so much, my pants stuck to my legs and acted as a wetsuit, keeping me warm. Yes you need to have some spirit about you for it to not get you down when you get 100% soaked. Normal rain doesn't bother me, but I avoid it completely now because I'm on an eBike, where I have prized open the display twice in the past so it's not waterproof anymore. I need to pack a sandwich bag for it actually.

[Vantage]

I remember biking to work some mornings where I got rained on so much, my pants stuck to my legs and acted as a wetsuit, keeping me warm.

How does that work? Anytime I've been soaked, the wind only makes the water colder.