a river bikes through it
May. 14th, 2006 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kirkcudbrightFor those not in the area, we're in the middle of 40 days and 40 nights of rain. Problem is, I leave in 2 weeks for a bike trip, and I've done exactly diddly for training. It's too wet to ride the horses, but not too wet to ride the bike. (Why? It's someone else's horse, and someone else's saddle, and it would suck to have the horse drown in the middle of the state forest because of something stupid I did. If I drown myself because of something stupid, I can live with that.)
Anyway, I was glad for the fenders (not getting water all up my back is a good thing). I was glad the rain suit, even if it wasn't 100% waterproof, and I was glad for the wool socks, and I would have been glad for the neoprene booties and neoprene gloves, if I had them, but of course I didn't.
Today's ride was 39 miles, and there were only about 7 or 8 places where the water flowing across the road was more than 6 inches. There was one spot where the current was strong enough that it took me halfway across the road while I was biking through it. (There were also uncountable [or at least uncounted] places where the water was more than an inch deep. They splashed directly onto my feet, but otherwise didn't slow me down.) It sucked a bit during the downpours, but it honestly wasn't bad when it was just water on the ground and drizzle in the air.
I rode with one of the Arkel front panniers (all hail Dan for the Arkel panniers). It has an integrated dry bag, into which I tossed my cell phone, my wallet, and...a roll of toilet paper. Mind you, there were a few places where the water was above the bottom of the pannier, and I poured about a cup of water out of the bottom of the pannier, but the cell phone still works and the toilet paper was 99% dry. The tool kit and spare tube in the top pocket (not in a dry bag) didn't fare quite so well, but I did have to fetch the tools out to adjust the rear fender in mid ride, so that let a bit of rain in.
(No pictures, because I just plain forgot to throw my camera into the below-water-level pannier, or to drag it out in the rain to shoot cars trying to do what I was doing. You're either living with it, or you can read about it here. The current front page picture of boston.com is more spectacular, but [or because] it shows a driver who's clearly gone around a ROAD CLOSED barrier, in the service of unpardonable stupidity. i.e. He's going through water that's deeper than I went through, or even would go through (probably), so he's more foolhardy than I am, and I am demonstrably more foolhardy than you.)
The upshot is that the bike, in its current configuration, should be equal to anything that Scotland and England can throw at it. I also note with irony that it's currently colder and wetter here than in northern Scotland. Last time I biked in Scotland, I got a sunburn. Let's see what happens this time...
Anyway, I was glad for the fenders (not getting water all up my back is a good thing). I was glad the rain suit, even if it wasn't 100% waterproof, and I was glad for the wool socks, and I would have been glad for the neoprene booties and neoprene gloves, if I had them, but of course I didn't.
Today's ride was 39 miles, and there were only about 7 or 8 places where the water flowing across the road was more than 6 inches. There was one spot where the current was strong enough that it took me halfway across the road while I was biking through it. (There were also uncountable [or at least uncounted] places where the water was more than an inch deep. They splashed directly onto my feet, but otherwise didn't slow me down.) It sucked a bit during the downpours, but it honestly wasn't bad when it was just water on the ground and drizzle in the air.
I rode with one of the Arkel front panniers (all hail Dan for the Arkel panniers). It has an integrated dry bag, into which I tossed my cell phone, my wallet, and...a roll of toilet paper. Mind you, there were a few places where the water was above the bottom of the pannier, and I poured about a cup of water out of the bottom of the pannier, but the cell phone still works and the toilet paper was 99% dry. The tool kit and spare tube in the top pocket (not in a dry bag) didn't fare quite so well, but I did have to fetch the tools out to adjust the rear fender in mid ride, so that let a bit of rain in.
(No pictures, because I just plain forgot to throw my camera into the below-water-level pannier, or to drag it out in the rain to shoot cars trying to do what I was doing. You're either living with it, or you can read about it here. The current front page picture of boston.com is more spectacular, but [or because] it shows a driver who's clearly gone around a ROAD CLOSED barrier, in the service of unpardonable stupidity. i.e. He's going through water that's deeper than I went through, or even would go through (probably), so he's more foolhardy than I am, and I am demonstrably more foolhardy than you.)
The upshot is that the bike, in its current configuration, should be equal to anything that Scotland and England can throw at it. I also note with irony that it's currently colder and wetter here than in northern Scotland. Last time I biked in Scotland, I got a sunburn. Let's see what happens this time...
