Riding around in the Pacific Northwest rain

[darkemeralds]

In a comment on my introductory post, foxfirefey suggested I post something about how I manage commuting all winter long in a rainy climate.

I replied that ha-ha-ha, I mostly just get wet, but that's not as flip an answer as it seems.



I live and commute in Portland, Oregon USA. It's a city well known for its gray, rainy climate. One of the FAQs of my relatively new bike-commuting life was, "Wow, it's wet out there. You gonna ride?"

Well, yeah. Here's what I've discovered about cycle-commuting in a less-than-San-Diego climate:

• There are a lot of rainy days here, but that doesn't mean each of them is rainy from start to finish: I've only actually been drenched five times in an entire fall, winter, and early spring of 100% bike commuting
• Rain gear is for wusses. I'm kidding. Rain gear suitable for bike-riding is actually just for thinner women than I am, so I never bought any because I couldn't find any to fit.
• Clothes I'd wear to wait for a bus in the rain are mostly perfectly okay for riding a bike in the rain
• Fenders are the Portland cyclist's very best friend ever
• Rainboots, aka wellies or galoshes, work fine on flat pedals. I don't clip in or anything fancy like that
• What I can't keep dry, I try to insure will dry quickly. Translation: synthetic fabric trousers and tights
• My computer monitors at work can dry my Skechers in, like, half an hour
• Almost no bike light is too bright, and almost no number of them too many, for commuting in the dark, reflective, rainy city streets
• It really sucks to wear cotton on a rainy day. Especially corduroy. Don't do that anymore.
• Merino wool keeps you warm even when it's wet. All the rumors are true. I'm nuts about the stuff
• If I were riding more than four or five miles each way, all of the above would be subject to serious reconsideration, but being a little damp for half an hour isn't gonna kill me

Basically, rain--at least Portland style rain--isn't that big of a deal. I regret all the years I didn't take up bike-riding for fear of it. But a lot of people really are fair-weather riders, and that gives rain-riding a big advantage: sometimes on a rainy day, I have the whole place to myself.

Crossposted from my DW

Comments

[juliet]

I cycle in London, UK all year round, and share many of your opinions/discoveries. Although I don't wear wellies to cycle in; I either use my SPDs (which get wet unless I remember the overshoes), or ride in DMs.

I did also when I still worked in an office keep a spare pair of knickers in my desk drawer, and either kept Emergency Change of Clothes there or cycled in bike kit & had office kit in my bag. This mostly after an autumn morning when I got so wet on the way to my (unheated) office that I had to go down to the High St & buy myself a new skirt to avoid getting pneumonia.

[darkemeralds]

I believe our two climates are nearly identical, at least in the autumn, winter and spring, and I have to say that I got some of my all-weather courage from I Bike London, a terrific blog.

I suspect that summer heat, rather than winter rain, will be what prompts me to have the Emergency Change of Clothes on hand, but as the Slow Bikes movement says, "Feeling Sweaty? Ride Slower." Happily, my commute is generally on a slight decline going in to work, so the worst sweat is reserved for going home.

[uhhuhlex]

Yeah, in Leicester the weather is pretty much the same as London. I find that jeans are a nightmare if you get wet. DMs are the ideal wet weather cycling shoe. And I don't need any specialist gear - what I'd wear to walk in the rain is just fine.

[darkemeralds]

Oh yes: jeans are the worst things to get wet in (or possibly second worst after the aforementioned cotton corduroy jacket). And I have a pair of DMs--I should dig them out. I found them too heavy for actually walking around in, but one of the beauties of riding a flat-pedal bike is that I can wear all kinds of shoes that aren't really great for walking.

I also love cycling in flip-flops when the rain isn't too cold.

[sara]

Wool is so my friend. I bought two longsleeved and one shortsleeved Icebreakers wool jerseys at Sierra Trading Post in Boise when we were through there in December (at a very steep discount, which is how I could afford three of them, ha ha) and I adore them. Those and heavy synthetic bike tights and an anorak, and I'm really pretty toasty, even in winter.

Also a spare pair of socks in a dry pannier, even if you're wearing wool socks. I spent a day last fall in wet wool socks, and that really did take it out of me.

[darkemeralds]

Icebreakers! Yes, lovely stuff, very pricey. I have one of their caps.

For those like me whom none of their clothes fit, I found an alternative: Minus33, which sells a few basic items in larger sizes.

One day I'm going to post my rant about the assumption in American bike shops that all cyclists and all fit people are thin.

[sara]

Heh, I was just happy to be a L rather than an XL in their stuff (I have a medium build but really wide shoulders, which I don't think is really unusual among women who are physically active, and most women's shirts nowadays cut into my armpits something fierce).

I did find somewhere the other day that sold plus-size bike togs, but no wool...*pokes at bookmarks* Here. No wool, but they do plus-size synthetic tights. I found them while looking for cycling clothes for kids (my daughter is tiny, and buying outdoor clothing for her is really difficult), but haven't made an order yet.

[darkemeralds]

Oh, that's awesome! I didn't find it because I don't do bike wear, per se (I'm way more over on the Copenhagenize side of bike-riding), but that's a fantastic resource for women who do, and I'll pass it around.

Thank you!

[sara]

¡De nada!

Yeah, I'd be more Copenhageny, but the closest thing I have to a bike commute is 6.5 miles across town to my kid's school -- if I didn't move fairly briskly, it'd take me an hour to get there...and even so, all the athleticky people still leave me in the dust pretty consistently (I do about 12 mph when I'm not stopping at lights every five minutes, and that isn't even fast enough to go on club rides around here, which are all 15-16 mph, wah. So I pretty much ride solo.)

[foxfirefey]

Thank you for posting about this! I'm really lucky to have a very bike friendly workplace, so I think I should definitely be able to ride to work.

[darkemeralds]

Bike-friendly definitely helps! Mine is--there's secure parking and everything. People who arrive a little sweaty or a little rain-dampened are perfectly acceptable, and the pressure to change into fancy clothes is almost nil.

[foxfirefey]

My workplace's office building has a bike locker and a bathroom with showers and towels, and nobody at work expects me to wear fancy clothes!

[roadrunnertwice]

Man! Jealous.

Nothing of the sort at my job, but since I'm actually the only one in the whole office who bikes (part of the way) to work, I get to store my bike in a disused cubicle. (I work in Beaverton. Beaverton Is Not Portland. 'Nuff said.)

[roadrunnertwice]

(Wow, DW lets you give a reason for comment edits! That is pretty neat.)

[darkemeralds]

No, there's a very big difference between Beaverton and Portland.

I LOVE your icon. Love love love.

[roadrunnertwice]

Source. (Man, me too. Such a perfect and quiet dreamscape.)