Day after day of seeing long-range forecasts showing rain, rain and more rain… if you enjoy riding a bike, don’t let it get you down!

• The weather forecast is often wrong, and when it’s not wrong, it’s at least exaggerated. It hasn’t rained 10 days straight in California in ages, and when it has, it hasn’t rained every single hour on each of those days.
• You can ride in the rain. Whether it’s a drizzle or a downpour, you can set up a bike for rain use and pretend to mind you’re not getting wet.

Today was one of those days where you wonder how many people stayed home instead of riding and missed out on at least a couple hours in the afternoon when the sun came out, the roads dried, and the clean air & lightly-traveled roads made it a joy to be out riding. But for Kevin and I, we first had to pay our dues.

We got out to a late start (yeah, pretty much the norm), around 11:45, and headed south. The original idea was to ride through the foothills to our Los Altos store, grab a quick bite to eat and then head up Redwood Gulch to Skyline, head north to Sky Londa and home. After spending a bit too much time in Los Altos we modified things a bit, heading north along Foothill and then up Moody & Page Mill to Skyline. Kevin was a bit concerned that we’d run into some real nasty stuff up top, but I just knew otherwise. How? Just my absurd certainty that foul weather wasn’t going to last forever… and it didn’t. The last three hours of the ride saw beautiful weather, fantastic views of the coast (and a mudslide you could see when you looked down on west-side Old LaHonda).

Would it have been nicer if it hadn’t been raining at all? And not had to stop a couple times to readjust fenders so they wouldn’t rub against tires? Sure! But how many people looked at the weather forecast and made up their minds they wouldn’t be riding today… and later looked out their windows and saw the sun shining and the roads drying off and realized they missed out?

Be prepared. Have a rain bike handy, something you don’t worry about keeping in great shape, set up with fenders and sturdier, wider tires for more traction and fewer punctures on wet roads. Skip the minimalist seat bag and go big, something with room enough for an inexpensive plastic rain jacket (they don’t stuff so well, but they do keep the rain off). Make sure you’ve got front & rear flashing lights, and, very important, wear a hat under your helmet, so when the rain gets nasty you can just tilt your head down slightly and keep most of it out of your eyes. Don’t even think about timing the ride; it’s not about speed, it’s about being on your bike, rain or shine, hot or cold, because riding a bike makes you feel complete.