My Morning Commute

[KelOnWheels]

@TwoWheelsDC 40588 wrote:

Woe to ye who ride not with eye protection on misty days.

The rain kept my cycling glasses from fogging up, so that was a plus

[Arlingtonrider]

Uh oh. I’m woe-d today. Left the glasses at home after having to remove them several times the past few days, but probably would have been fine with them since I wore a hood with a visor today.

Other than that, wore usual things – Novarra headwind pants, running shoes and wool socks, regular gloves (all those items got wet but dry pretty fast), Gore facemask and PI WxB hood, merino turtleneck with REI base layer over it (I know its weird to wear base layer on top, but I tried and liked it last night – sometimes it’s nice to have a light extra layer); commuter shell; usual rain jacket. Very comfortable for the 8 mile commute, even though pants, shoes and gloves got wet.

As an extra precaution, I threw a bright orange reflective mesh vest over my rain jacket today because of all the confused tourists, inauguration workers, etc. in town.

Also, watch out for unexpected video cables in the streets and maybe in the gutters over the next few days. They can trip you up and sometimes are not well-marked.

(I think I’ll order a pair of those Seirus extreme waterproof gloves Consularrider mentioned below. They come in womens sizes too. Thanks for the tip!)

[consularrider]

@KelOnWheels 40585 wrote:

RULE 9!

38 degrees? Raining? HECK YEAH!

Here’s my clothing setup from this morning (top down):

Bell Citi helmet w/mirror and light attached,
Nashbar glasses w/yellow tinted lenses,
Goretex brimmed cap,
Sugoi earband,
Smartwool 250 merino base layer,
Adidas midweight cycling jersey,
Craft rain jacket,
Seirus Xtreme waterproof gloves,
Cannondale brushed lining bib knickers,
Nashbar rain pants,
Lorpen midweight over-the-calf merino wool ski socks, and
Columbia bugatrail shoes (somewhat waterproof, and fleece lined).

It was about 40° with drizzly rain for the duration of my 12.5 mile ride. The MUPs had lots of puddles and in some places streams of water, but none of the Four Mile Run crossings were flooded. However, they had been at some time and there was debris across the three near Columbia Pike. The only mist I encountered was on the Potomac.

I arrived at work about an hour after I started and was basically dry on the inside. The only exception was that the rain pants soaked through in the front and the pad on the knickers was damp at the front. Both my hands an feet were dry and warm throughout the ride.

[Arlingtonrider]

I added a couple of things to my post above in case they might be helpful to anyone.

[TwoWheelsDC]

I wore my cheap LL Bean rain jacket (over a l/s jersey and wool base layer), Showers Pass pants (over bibs w/leg warmers), and PI shoe covers, and I was basically dry after 7.5 miles. My jacket has a hood, so I just just put my helmet on over it to keep my head dry. My Sugoi Firewall gloves soaked through at the fingertips by the end of the ride, but that was no big deal. My main issue with rain is that I don’t have good options for letting my stuff dry if it gets really wet. I leave my bibs and jersey in the locker room, but it doesn’t have good air circulation, so if my stuff is really wet (rather than just sweaty) it won’t be dry by the end of the day, meaning I have to make sure my bibs, jersey, and base layer stay dry during my ride. In my cube, I have clothes strewn about to the point of being “that guy”, but I still had to leave my pants and shoe covers hanging over my bike.

[Dirt]

My attire today was pretty good. 36 degrees was the average temp over the length of my ride. I arrived warm and my core/upper legs were basically dry… a little damp from sweat, but perfectly warm. To the right is listed a lower priced item that would have worked just as well.

Castelli long sleeve baselayer — Sorry. I like the $80 base layer, (VVill took back his comment and said that he hadn’t used the cheap base layer and that it was a big misunderstanding. Basically there is no cheap alternative for good base layer.)
Rapha wool-blend team long sleeve jersey. — Most mid-weight thermal jerseys, including the discount coolmax ones would have worked almost as well.
Assos rain jacket — My Endura Flyte jacket would have worked just as well at 1/3 the price for this ride.
Fleece knickers — Old cycling shorts with knee warmers would have done the same thing.
Endura Venturi 3/4 rain pants — These are hard to replace, nothing works quite as well as these, but honestly, you could take some old, coated-nylon jogging pants and cut them off below the knee and tie them down with Bike Arlington reflective straps and it would have been okay.
Swiftwick socks — Lots of alternatives, some are cheaper. Good wool socks can be had for $10… sometimes less on the Interwebs.
Lake CX170 rain boots — Any cycling shoes with some shoe covers would work to give a little insulation. Cover some of the venting of your shoes with duct tape can also work. Don’t wrap your feet in duct tape, but just add a little water resistance can help your fenders work better.
Castelli diluvio neoprene rain gloves — My friend Carlo bought some neoprene fishing gloves for $20 that are virtually the same thing…. the castellis are tighter and a little cuter…which is important.
Little Packages silk cycling cap — Any cycling cap or even a baseball cap will do. You need something that has a little bit of a bill on it so that it blocks rain from going directly into your eyes or onto your glasses.
Specialized Prevail helmet — Any helmet that is sized to let you have a cycling cap under it.

One comment on head gear. I tend to ride with less stuff keeping my head/ears warm than most. Generally I tend to maintain warmth by riding at a speed that lets me generate a fair amount of heat. My head tends to work as a radiator. A lot of the heat that would otherwise leave my body as sweat under my rain gear basically ends up being cooled off by not worrying too much about my head getting wet. That holds true down into the low 30s if it is raining, into the mid 20s if it not raining. Some folks really want and need something like a headband or earmuffs to keep their head comfortable. The Ramones said it best, “I guess I’ll have to break the news, That I’ve got no brain to lose,”

Werd.

Dirt.

[culimerc]

Do you leave the Moose Mitts on the bike during the rain??

[vvill]

@Dirt 40610 wrote:

Castelli long sleeve baselayer — Sorry. I like the $80 base layer, though vvill said he really likes the Under Armor base layer that he got for $20 a lot. Worth a try!

I think my post must’ve been confusing. I don’t have the $20 Under Armor base layer, I got the Rapha long sleeve merino wool base layer. It’s quite Epic.

[Dirt]

@vvill 40622 wrote:

I think my post must’ve been confusing. I don’t have the $20 Under Armor base layer, I got the Rapha long sleeve merino wool base layer. It’s quite Epic.

Gotcha. So there is no substitution for good base layer, as I kinda expected. Go cheap at your own peril.

[Dirt]

@culimerc 40619 wrote:

Do you leave the Moose Mitts on the bike during the rain??

I don’t. I haven’t really used the moose mitts much this year yet. Once or twice…. They work nicely in the rain… especially if you treat the outside of them. You can also use binder clips to put Target shopping bags over the outside and they’re totally waterproof. Looks snazzy too!

[Rod Smith]

@Dirt 40634 wrote:

Gotcha. So there is no substitution for good base layer, as I kinda expected. Go cheap at your own peril.

Actually generic polyester works just fine, Princess.

[vvill]

I have plenty of both generic polyester and merino wool now.

[mstone]

@Dirt 40610 wrote:

Little Packages silk cycling cap

What does their logo look like, and how prominent is their name on the kit?

[Certifried]

Fortunately, I’m OK. The bike, other than a few more scratches, is OK after being straightened up by Anthony at Proteus. I did some super ninja roll and only scratched up my thigh a little. No major injuries, thank God! I kind of felt bad for the lady in the car, super sweet older (55?60?) lady. She just didn’t see me, wasn’t on the phone or anything. I couldn’t brake in time.

also, first ride wearing my RoadID… jinx? I hope not!

006 by certifried, on Flickr

[KLizotte]

God god, glad to hear you are all right. What happened? Any citations given?

[Author]

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