Oregon Rain

[KevinK]

After a couple days of semi-dryness, the rains are back with a vengance here in Eugene. I donned my rain gear and hopped on my Mercian commuter equipted with fenders and lights galore and headed off to work. On my 12 mile commute this morning I rode through more standing water on the roadways and bike paths than I can ever recall. One large roadway puddle apparantly caused by a backed up storm drain was so deep that my feet were submerged on the downstroke as I pedalled through it. This made my PI shoe covers ineffective as the water entered through the cutouts in the soles. My Burley jacket kept the rain out but water ran down the back of my neck and dampened my back. By the time I got to work my tights were soaked but they still kept me nice and warm. Some early morning observations through rain-speckled glasses: There were lots of earthworms on the bike paths, and many ducks and geese were flocking to the paths to pick them off, oblivious to the lone cyclist intruding on their morning feast. The bike path runs next to the Willamette River. the river is high and brownish, and the sounds it makes as it rolls along up (down?) to Portland harmonized nicely with the splash of my tires and the whir of the chain. A bonus from all the hard rain that we have been having is that the bike lanes and paths have been swept clean by the deluge. And the rains have reduced the normally robust level of foot and bike traffic on the bike paths to a trickle. Not having to keep an eagle eye on the road ahead allowed me more opportunities to enjoy my surroundings, and made me remember how fortunate I am, and that even on a day like today, I'm lucky to be living here. Although I can't wait for the warm sunny weather to arrive, riding in all this wetness can be rather enjoyable, if one is properly prepared and in the right frame of mind.

Kevin

[shinomaster]

Yeah this bites....I have today off too....I'll ride later if there is a respite...I don't have real fenders..

[coylifut]

Yeah this bites....I have today off too....I'll ride later if there is a respite...I don't have real fenders..

are you moving away?

[shinomaster]

Should I?? Actually this is all better than the snow and ice of NY and Boston. Riding in JAnuary was a true luxury for me...could always be worse...

[wasfast]

It has indeed been wet. I'm in Vancouver, Wa but the weather is about the same. I rode Saturday (32 mile club ride, actually stopped raining with partial clearing in the morning), 30 miles in steady showers Sunday morning, and 18 miles yesterday in the rain. Biggest bummer, I flatted every single day! The roads and bike lanes here are a mess of debris.

[ols]

Just curious, since I presume your Mercian is steel, do you do anything in particular after a rain ride in terms of maintenance? Did you pre-spray with JP Weigle frame saver? Or is this just not an issue...

[KevinK]

You're right, Saturday was drizzly and cold, but not too bad. My wife and I took our Co-Motion tandem on what is known at the Epic January Mountain Ride led by a mountain goat disguised as one of our club members. My wife is purely a recreational rider, and we got dropped on the climbs, but the group waited for us at each summit. 53 miles, 5 major climbs and four sore legs later, we were happy to have riden most of it (the whole route would have added 3-4 more climbs and 25 miles). Vaxn8r was there, riding circles around us. All in all, a great way to spend a dreary Saturday in January.

Kevin

[vaxn8r]

Rain! I expect rain in Oregon but this is ridiculous. At least it's not cold.

[coylifut]

Should I?? Actually this is all better than the snow and ice of NY and Boston. Riding in JAnuary was a true luxury for me...could always be worse...

any cyclist who lives in the PNW and doesn't have a set of full fenders complete with flaps is just passing through. Strap some fenders on and put down some roots.

Vaxn8er, the tempreature here in Portland has dropped about 6 degrees since I woke up this morning. It's now 43 with steady rain. Like you I expect rain, but this has gone on far too long. Everyone is getting quite grumpy. With that said, I'll be riding in about an hour.

[bcm119]

Saturday our club ride took us through axle-deep standing water. My tires have water in them now.

I actually prefer this 48 degree rain over 34 degree fog. I've been riding more this winter than last, when we had half as much rain. If you pay attention to the weather around here, you'll notice that our worst weather (to me at least) occurs when we have high pressure overhead, when you'd usually expect nice weather. When that happens we have cold temps, stagnant air, and fog in the valley. Yuk. I like these storms because they're warm, and keep the air moving.

[KevinK]

Just curious, since I presume your Mercian is steel, do you do anything in particular after a rain ride in terms of maintenance? Did you pre-spray with JP Weigle frame saver? Or is this just not an issue...

I don't do anything out of the ordinary. I haven't treated the frame with anything, nor do I wipe it down after a rain ride. In fact, I'll sometimes hose it down after a particularly grimey commute. I don't know where you live, but here in Oregon salt is not used on the roads, and unless you are on the coast, rust is not a big problem. I do make sure to keep the seatpost and quill stem well greased, and lube the chain regulary. I also don't use any sealed bearing components. I have found from experience that muck will get past virtually any seal, and it is easier to overhaul standard adjustable bearings than it is to keep sealed bearings runing smoothly in harsh conditions. The Mercian doesn't have any internally routed cables to allow access to water, and I use friction downtube shifters. Just one less thing to worry about.

Kevin

[gasman]

I threw in the towel and have been cross country skiing the last couple weekends. This morning though I was jonesing for a ride. I got up early and met my work mates for morning coffee at 6 AM then headed out onto the roads at 6:30. I agree KevinK, I haven't seen so much water in a long time. I headed out 15th to follow the bike path along amazon canal out to ride around Fern Ridge but there was three feet of water covering the path on the underpasses !!
I turned around and headed out the path along the Willamette to hit McKenzie Hwy. Man there was water everywhere ! It reminded me of the Simpsons episode where Marge tells the kids about Lewis and Clark. L & C finally see the Pacific ocean, it starts pouring rain, and they proclaim- " We name this beautiful ,green land Eugene, Oregon." It then starts raining harder.

Brian- I agree about the weather in the winter here. I'd rather have the rain and wind than the cold and fog.

[shinomaster]

I rode today at around 4:00...no rain! ha ha haha :banana:

[gasman]

I rode today at around 4:00...no rain! ha ha haha :banana:

Shino- you are one lucky guy. I was driving to pick up my son at BBall practice. Ah well.

[coylifut]

I rode today at around 4:00...no rain! ha ha haha :banana:

I started about 3:00 in the rain, but finished around 4:45. about 1/2 rain, 1/2 no rain.

[pdxmech13]

coming from the midwest (Miilichigan) the only thing that I need
for reassurance to ride in the rain is to think about zero below
and lots of wind. Lets hope that mother nature is getting it out
of her system and we get an early gift from the ol' hag. :beer:

[William]

Awww c'mon, you guys are making me homesick. :crap:

I agree that I would rather have the rain and 45 degrees of Oregon then slush, salt, snow, and -1 - 28 degrees of Rhode Island.

It doesn't sound that unusual. Every so many years you get a string of storms that batter the coast and deluge the valleys. I want to say 1996, when the area got battered and had all the landslides and roads washed out. I was coming down Cornell on my way to work at around 5:00 am when I rounded a corner and part of the road was gone. <swerve> BANG!! Rear tire drops off, <scrape BANG!!> when it hits pavement again. Felt like the whole undercarriage was ripped off the car. I ended up bending the rear axle. Good thing I was in the car because I commuted sometimes on the bike and decided not to that day. I would have disappeared into that sucka.

Anyway, suck it up guys! :D It's Oregon (Ory-gun ;) ). It will get nice soon enough and remind you of why you love it there.

William

[shinomaster]

Awww c'mon, you guys are making me homesick. :crap:

I agree that I would rather have the rain and 45 degrees of Oregon then slush, salt, snow, and -1 - 28 degrees of Rhode Island.

It doesn't sound that unusual. Every so many years you get a string of storms that batter the coast and deluge the valleys. I want to say 1996, when the area got battered and had all the landslides and roads washed out. I was coming down Cornell on my way to work at around 5:00 am when I rounded a corner and part of the road was gone. <swerve> BANG!! Rear tire drops off, <scrape BANG!!> when it hits pavement again. Felt like the whole undercarriage was ripped off the car. I ended up bending the rear axle. Good thing I was in the car because I commuted sometimes on the bike and decided not to that day. I would have disappeared into that sucka.

Anyway, suck it up guys! :D It's Oregon (Ory-gun ;) ). It will get nice soon enough and remind you of why you love it there.

William


Holy cow! What a close call.....Today was super nice...had to "work". :crap: :crap:

[coylifut]

Holy cow! What a close call.....Today was super nice...had to "work". :crap: :crap:

It was nice yesterday. The only day I couldn't ride.

:crap: :crap: :crap: :crap:

[palincss]

Yeah this bites....I have today off too....I'll ride later if there is a respite...I don't have real fenders..

You live in Portland OR and don't have fenders? That's really surprising.

[shinomaster]

I'm in denial... :beer: