They beat me to the ground, kicked me aside and called me a “wuss”, but inside I was warm and smiling.
As far back as I can remember there has been a stigma against certain bike parts. Bits of bicycle artillery that through poor development, genetic disposition, social stigma or just plain bad luck, have permanently slipped away from the realm of “real” cyclists. Bicycle indicator lights, rear view mirrors, bells, horns, even full panniers are seldom seen on bikes ridden by “serious” cyclists. To install such things would lose friends and possibly end if physical harm for offending those higher up the coolness ladder.
But are those things really so uncool?
Being stuck inside on rollers because of the rain is not fun and it’s been like that for a few weeks now. It’s been at least a few weeks since I managed a long ride and it’s depressing. But how can I get out in the rain?
Traditional Wisdom
Traditional answers to riding in the rain have proved lacking.
Just get wet is the first choice. You’re hard, just stick it out, be tough. Uh, sorry but suffering for nothing doesn’t make sense. Works fine if it’s balmy 30C outside, but not when it’s getting to the low teens. Staying dry is also helps keep warm.
So keep dry. A whole slew of waterproof gear is available, but with high-tech materials like GoreTex, you’re pushing big budgets for a full set of gear. But you’re still getting really wet, and simply holding the enemy at bay.
On the cheaper end, a 7-11 disposable raincoat actually does a pretty damn good job at keeping the upper body dry. Underneath that plastic bag almost any combination of layers of clothing will warm you up enough. But what about the legs?
Legs just aren’t designed for being wrapped in bags. Feet can handle bags, but they will wear through in less than an hour or two or solid riding in the wet and rain. Once the water seeps in, all is lost. They will not dry, even if you ride them in the glorious light of the warm sun for the rest of the day. And legs will get drenched, the splash from the front wheel spraying up covers the legs and deposits most of itself on your shoes. Same goes for the spray from the back wheel that will strike the seat tube and join forces with the evil front spray to thwart even your boldest efforts at keeping dry.
But what if you could keep the rain from reaching you in first place? What if instead of hand to hand combat against the foe, you could simply lift the drawbridge and leave him shouting at you in your safe haven? What if all our current schemes have been fatally flawed from the start?
The Hero
The hero of our story arrives. In gleaming armor he steps up to claim his honor.
But he needs some introduction, because he has been neglected and put aside for quite a while now. Now, bikes in Taiwan are used much more as commuting machines than back in South Africa, flat roads and close proximity to the places you need to go make it very easy to do a short ride instead of a long walk. They’re also very cheap and practical, keeping them well clear of the fads that sweep the world of fancy bikes.
Bells are cool, flat pedals are cool, single gears are cool, low prices are cool, racks are cool, front baskets are cool, upright riding positions are cool and so are… fenders.
And as it turns out, the fender is the long-lost hero and the key hours of unadulterated pleasure in the rain. This unsung hero will stop almost all the water before it even gets to you. Clean little raindrops are an easy force to deal with when the onslaught of streams of muddy grime don’t even make their way into the picture.
So that is my next accessory. I’m gonna geekify my ride, add long mud flaps and just kit my beast out with the most killer rain-stopping accessories known to mankind. They’re still in the works, but when they’re done I’ll have a full report back. I’m looking forward to some seriously geeky fun.
I might never be cool again, but that’s okay, ’cause it will be a “happily ever after”.
[Here’s a nice link about fenders http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fenders.html. And a design for mudflaps linked to from there http://phred.org/~alex/bikes/fendermudflap.html ]
