It seems that the rain really will just continue to come down, but now I have a partial defense against Seattle’s drearier elements.
My previous attempt at biking in a proper rain (getting around in the more usual misty conditions isn’t really an issue – even a couple months in, I barely notice any moisture in the air that isn’t actually falling, but instead hanging there, waiting for you to run into it) left me with the unpleasantness of sitting around in wet jeans for hours after the ride.
This time, however, I added one crucial piece of gear to my arsenal. Last week, I picked up a pair of rain pants at REI, which were worth every penny I paid. They are loose enough to be comfortable to move and pedal in, and fit easily over my jeans. But they also have fasteners at the bottom, not only to keep rain from getting in underneath, but which also serve to keep them well out of the way of my chain (which is a better solution in the rain than rolling up my right leg to avoid the disaster of having my pants caught in the gear at high speed).
Coupled with a pair of light gore-tex boots, which have performed much better than I had even hoped in keeping my feet and socks dry in heavy rain, the rain pants turned a soaking commute into a mostly dry commute, and the rain pants were easy to shake off and stow once I arrived.
They don’t quite fit the idea which many people have given me of wearing the same thing to bike that you would to do anything else in the rain, but for someone whose wardrobe is heavy on cotton denim, they will be an essential part of my biking outfit this winter.
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