3 Reasons why you SHOULD ride in the rain

[Rolls_imp]

This is a quick video of a local Monsoon Ride from two weekends ago. I missed this ride, but a friend videoed it. This has been our weather lately. My rain gear is a windbreaker. I need to fix that.

I did ride about 90 miles in rain today by choice, which rather unusual for me. Maybe I need a "checkup from the neck up."

Good local scenery in our rainy season. Enjoy!

[clearviewx]

well done....

[Cormanus]

Your mate did a great job, Rolls.

I rode an hour or so in a deluge on Friday. My wet weather gear didn't work; but, hey, I feel better about it after watching that.

[the Ferret]

I have ridden in the rain so many times in the last 50 years. Can't say I really enjoy it. It's just part of being a touring riders life. On every 9 or 10 days tour there are generally 2 days of rain. Sometimes deluge type rain. Have never found gear that will really keep it out for an extended period of time, especially gloves. I would rather get caught in it, than take off in it, but of course most times you don't have a choice.

Slow down a bit, stay as vertical as you can, leave extra space for stopping, avoid paint stripes on the road, and tell yourself it's only water lol.

[redbirds_imp]

Riding in the rain in summer can be a pleasure; it's the only time the air conditioner works.

[uscgmac_imp]

I believe riding in the rain can be a good learning tool so if you do get caught out there you are not taken by surprise. One of my first experiences of riding in the rain was a little nerve racking. After that day I never had a problem riding in the rain. A long time ago I got caught in a brief rain storm and someone in a car shot out of a side street past the stop sign and not making a full stop. I locked up the brakes and went down then slid into the back of a parked car. This was on a different bike over 25 years ago. Another time I got caught on the NY state through way going up state in a down pour next to 18 wheel semi trucks without the proper rain gear and that was a out 3 hours of fun. Now I'm fully prepared. Proper rain gear. I check the weather radar. My touring bike has anti lock brakes. I always check my tires. Stay out of center of lane. I don't follow to close. And I have much more confidence in the tires and my skills over the years have much improved.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

[kballowe_imp]

Rain is something that FOLLOWS me around. And, it runs in the family........

If you ride with me, you WILL get rained on. If I bring my Brother along - it's gonna be a storm.

Me, my Brother, and my Son went on a ride and we got a GD tornado !

So YES, we have rain gear !

[TINK_imp]

That was fun!

I learned to ride in Seattle, so, if you did not ride in the rains there, you did not ride.

Over the years I've ridden in the rain for work, for fun, for the heck of it.

Like the video says; practice, practice, practice. Riding in the rain is not really that hard.

Just remember, you have next to no traction for acceleration or braking, so, smoooooth inputs are the key here.

[Mikestib1_imp]

Not me. I spent 9 months riding in the UK and Europe everyday. It rained at least a third of them. I was on a Suzuki T350 Rebel and the hours spent avoiding accidents took all the pleasure out of those days where it rained 6 hours straight. In an all day down pour, give me any 4 wheeled cuss box. The rest of you can enjoy it on a bike.

[suhawk305]

And to add to the precautionary advice above: If the road pavement has been dry for a long period of time, the pavement could have oil and other residue deposits in the surface voids, especially at intersections and in heavily traveled streets. A sudden rain will bring up these residues making the sliding friction coefficient between your tires and the pavement surfaces near zero (or, its gonna be danged slippery!). What I usually do is to pull of the road during this situation (hopefully under a bridge) allowing the rain to wash off this slippery residue before I proceed.
When I was a yute (New York lingual here), I was tearing up a 4 lane street in a town on my hot Honda CA95. A sudden rain storm happened and traffic came to a stop. I hit the brakes on my 16 HP crotch rocket and I began to slide. Luckily, the CA95 was small enough that I was able to steer/coax it between rows of cars without hitting anything or falling down! As ferret said, leave plenty of room ahead of you.
Also , avoid wet piles of leaves raked at the edge of streets. That story did not turn out well for me and my broken collarbone.