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Practicing Riding in the Rain

jaxthedog

jaxthedog
California's long dry spells make rainy-day riding something that only happens on occasion, but when it happens it can be dicey at best. Today - first day of a pretty good storm blowing through - I decided it would be good to get out and ride through the squish a bit. I was amazed at how much I'd forgotten about wet weather riding.

As long as there's a hot shower waiting at home, I recommend a few practice sessions in the rain.

Details about what I was reminded of are at: http://thechurchoftheopenroad.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-things-i-forgot-about-riding-in-rain.html
 
Come to central Florida in the summer. Summer is the wet season and we get rain and thunderstorms almost every afternoon. Fortunately we look for showers to ride through, just to cool off. We get lots of practice...
 
The difference being that after the first week of liguid sunshime here in Florida the roads are somewhat clear of oil film, while the long dry spells with rare showers in CA don't wash the oil film off as much.
Practice is good, be aware and be careful.
 
Practice riding in the rain makes sense I guess, but I still think it is just about the same as getting practice colonoscopies.
 
Last edited:
Jax
Thank you for your suggestion to make an effort to ride in the rain. And not just sit around and plan my riding, with the intention of going where I want to go when I want to go.
I think it is a good suggestion.
And you are probably right, that rather than just waiting for rain, and suffering it when it comes, and laughing at my suffering, I should get out and seek rain to ride in.
I should look for a storm and ride into.
At current I have quite a few screws loose. And when the day comes when I have lot more screws loose, I will do it.
dc
 
I took my bike and practiced in the rain. I made a stupid video of it when I was new to rain riding. Now, I enjoy rain riding more than riding on regular days. It is more chanllenging. Just remember the white lines are dangerous in the parking lots. It was sped up a little to make it feel more dangerous. :D

I practiced swerves, circle riding and emergency stops.
If you are afraid of rain get a new bike with stability control.
 
What's there to practice ?.

1. Braking. If you don't have a car following you, a straight-up application of the brakes will at least give you a clue as to how slipperly that particular section of road is. If a modest applicaton activates your ABS or has your tires locking up, you have been warned. Slow WAY DOWN for curves. You MAY have 70% of your dry road traction in the rain. You also may have 30% of your dry road traction. The only thing you can bet on is that the amount of traction will continue to vary on real roads, as opposed to the race track. You are guessing, and very conservative guesses in the curves seldom lead to problems.

2. Check out your gear. My very first ride this season I had the rain liners in my jacket and pants so wasn't concerned when I ran into a thunderstorm for 15 minutes. What did scare me though was the fogging inside my fullface helmet. I opened the visor a notch to get rid of the fog and I now had rain coursing down both sides of the faceshield! The next day I ordered a new faceshield for my Shoei with Pinlock. Ya gotta be able to see.
 
What's there to practice ?.

1. Braking. If you don't have a car following you, a straight-up application of the brakes will at least give you a clue as to how slipperly that particular section of road is. If a modest applicaton activates your ABS or has your tires locking up, you have been warned. Slow WAY DOWN for curves. You MAY have 70% of your dry road traction in the rain. You also may have 30% of your dry road traction. The only thing you can bet on is that the amount of traction will continue to vary on real roads, as opposed to the race track. You are guessing, and very conservative guesses in the curves seldom lead to problems.

2. Check out your gear. My very first ride this season I had the rain liners in my jacket and pants so wasn't concerned when I ran into a thunderstorm for 15 minutes. What did scare me though was the fogging inside my fullface helmet. I opened the visor a notch to get rid of the fog and I now had rain coursing down both sides of the faceshield! The next day I ordered a new faceshield for my Shoei with Pinlock. Ya gotta be able to see.

It's about achieving a level of comfort. In your local daily ride or commute you will be aware of potential bad areas, flooding, painted road markings.
On a tour we may run into rain,and being comfortable riding in it will make your trip better.
 
It's about achieving a level of comfort. In your local daily ride or commute you will be aware of potential bad areas, flooding, painted road markings.
On a tour we may run into rain,and being comfortable riding in it will make your trip better.

+1 on this.

Odds are good on a long trip that I'll get rained on, and not letting rain at home curtail my riding keeps it part of the routine stuff you need to deal with.
 
This is a quick 50 second video of me racing my FZR400 in the rain at Little Tally back in February. It was supposed to have been a nice day but a storm hit and I didn't have any rain tires. You can see how quick the guys with rain tires go around me and how tentative I am. It is actually raining a lot harder than it looks.

If you think this looks bad, you should have seen me when it was time to race the RZ350 on this day (no rains either)!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLAPZIIcEy4&list=UL
 
When does it not rain on a trip? Doesn't have to be long either. :laugh

Arkansas and Missouri last year looked like it hadn't seen rain in a while. Holy smokes it was dry out there! Then I came home and had to mow my driveway cuz of all the rain while I was at the rally.
 
Practice riding in the rain makes sense I guess, but I still think it is just about the same as getting practice colonoscopies.

Hmmmmmmmm-? are you saying it rains every ten yrs down there? or that we should ride in the rain every ten yrs same as getting checked or ? A practice colon thing would be ala medical guinea pig, well, I'm just confused :doh I ride in whatever comes along which is often rain. Hey, I'm "practiced"! ;)
 
Hmmmmmmmm-? are you saying it rains every ten yrs down there? or that we should ride in the rain every ten yrs same as getting checked or ? A practice colon thing would be ala medical guinea pig, well, I'm just confused :doh I ride in whatever comes along which is often rain. Hey, I'm "practiced"! ;)

I mean deliberately going out to ride in the rain just for grins equates to getting several colonoscopies just for grins.
 
I mean deliberately going out to ride in the rain just for grins equates to getting several colonoscopies just for grins.

I've often heard folks down in Texas were a bit different... :laugh

Up here it rains so often if you avoid riding in it you give up half your riding season.
 
Riding in the rain will never be 'comfortable'. It will always be a necessary evil, to get to those places and days where the sun shines, and all seems right with the world.
You will get all the 'practice' you might ever need in the real world.
Deliberately going out into rain to 'practice' riding in the rain to me is like cutting yourself with a knife, to 'practice' your response, pain endurance, and healing processes.
dc
 
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