Stormy Weather

[Nick Armstrong]

What do you wear for cycling in bad weather (Caliban and S-A and the other cyclists here) Do you don Lycra or have a sort of zip-up waterproof boiler suit over your Jermyn Street suits? (Or, I believe they are also called siren suits?) <giggle>

I wear normal clothes, not a suit though (I can change at the office). If it's raining in the morning, I don't take the bike as I hate arriving at the office soaked. I don't mind getting a thorough soaking on the way home though - quite fun once you're resigned to it. The coat and shoes will dry overnight and everything else goes in the washing machine

I can put my hand on my heart and say I have never worn an item of lycra!!

[Serial_Apologist]

What do you wear for cycling in bad weather (Caliban and S-A and the other cyclists here) Do you don Lycra or have a sort of zip-up waterproof boiler suit over your Jermyn Street suits? (Or, I believe they are also called siren suits?) <giggle>

Like caliban, just ordinary clobber, not the cloned Zorg-look plus machine-like body movements of the grouped cyclopacks who sideways glance superciliously through their impenetrable wrap-around shades down their noses at me huffing and bodily twisting my relative bulk up the local 1 in 10s, as they (both sexes ) steam effortlessly past me in twentieth gear. And the less the better. No helmet - tried one once: they're hot, uncomfortable, look stupid, limit vision, somehow alter the open air acoustic to make direction of sounds ambiguous, and I've never landed on me nut in the 4-5 serious falls I've experienced in 36 years of cycling - only once on my face, for which said head protection would not have prevented my nose being smashed. If it's raining I just let my head get wet. With a No 1 cut it can quickly be dried off with towel. As for those tight nylon shorts... ... I did ask ex-next door if she ever worried about hubby's wearing of these, regarding reputed effects on, er, fertility, and she said, "I'm sure you're right. I had wanted two but **** said one was enough, so we stopped with Ben, and now we're both retired we don't give it any thought" In winter I have a nice puffa-type coat in white, which shows up sufficiently I think to dispense with the yellow fluorescent flimsy otherwise donned after dark. Thick double-layered woollen gloves - from Canada, but still insufficient protection below about minus 5 C.

[Mr Pee]

I can put my hand on my heart and say I have never worn an item of lycra!!

Are you sure? I thought this was you arriving at work :-

[Anna]

Oh, thank goodness for that. Around here we have so many cyclists in the full lycra, futuristic air wrapping back to front helmets, shaved legs, and wrap-round shades they look, as they freewheel down the hill, like a horde of invading Alien ants! How nice to think of you cycling, through the mists of the Cloisters or the parks, gently whistling a bit of Elgar, whilst on your trust Raleighs!

[Nick Armstrong]

Like caliban, just ordinary clobber, not the cloned Zorg-look plus machine-like body movements of the grouped cyclopacks who sideways glance superciliously through their impenetrable wrap-around shades down their noses at me huffing and bodily twisting my relative bulk up the local 1 in 10s, as they (both sexes ) steam effortlessly past me in twentieth gear.

that's a hell of a sentence! left me as breathless as riding up your 1 in 10!

And the less the better.

www.worldnakedbikeride.org/uk

No helmet - tried one once: they're hot, uncomfortable, look stupid, limit vision, somehow alter the open air acoustic to make direction of sounds ambiguous, and I've never landed on me nut in the 4-5 serious falls I've experienced in 36 years of cycling - only once on my face, for which said head protection would not have prevented my nose being smashed.

I do wear a helmet... The only time I have had a fall *TOUCH WOOD* the bike came back at me and hit me on the head... the helmet took the pain.

"I'm sure you're right. I had wanted two but **** said one was enough, so we stopped with Ben, and now we're both retired we don't give it any thought"

[Nick Armstrong]

Are you sure? I thought this was you arriving at work :-

Looks like panjandrum*




* well, his avatar...

[Mr Pee]

No helmet - tried one once: they're hot, uncomfortable, look stupid, limit vision, somehow alter the open air acoustic to make direction of sounds ambiguous, and I've never landed on me nut in the 4-5 serious falls I've experienced in 36 years of cycling.

I know helmets are a bone of contention among cyclists, but I wear one and I was very glad of it last winter when I came off my bike on a patch of ice. My head flipped backwards and clobbered the tarmac with some force- luckily the helmet took the impact. Without it, I think I would have had a very bad headache at the very least.

And it has also protected my head from one or two low branches on one of the cycle paths I use.

Love the first sentence of your post though!! I do think the Tour De France wannabees look down on anybody not dressed in Lycra and with less than 30 gears as somehow not being a "proper" cyclist. But I bet they won't be out tonight in the pouring rain and howling gale that I'm about to cycle through on my way to work......

[Serial_Apologist]

There was an old WW2 helmet in good nick in the attic at my parents' house. Wish I'd kept it now...

[BBMmk2]

Wonder if my dad has his WW2 unfirom somewhere? :)

Wild wet and wimndy today! Goodness!!

[Mahlerei]

Dark 'n' stormy night, so here are pictures of Sky to cheer y'all up.

[marthe]

Lovely pics Mahlerei. In the top one, Sky looks as if she's enjoying a good joke. I hope you all (cyclists and non-cyclists alike) weather the dark and stormy night. A "Dark and Stormy" or two might help!

[Mahlerei]

Hi marthe

Yes, she has a mischievous streak a mile wide.

[marthe]

And butter wouldn't melt in her mouth! (As my mother liked to say of us when we were angel-faced but contemplating mischief.)

[Anna]

Aha: the back of the front!

And it cleared amazingly quickly to leave a quite fine evening. Early hours were boisterous with squally rain but Dawn's rosy fingers revealed a perfectly blue sky with fluffy clouds and a Southerly wind is now a gentle 8mph

Nice pix of Sky mahlerei, beautiful eyes, but you let animals on the furniture?

[Nick Armstrong]

You might well get the tail-end of the line squall I'm afraid, Caliban. Depends on just how fast the front moves through. Hope you have your gloves to hand (no pun intended!) as a temperature drop is anticipated. That BBC site I gave Anna - just type your post code in the top right hand corner box. The chart gives the nearest latest readings and hourly predictions: click on the > at the bottom right hand end.

Should be OK for me as my local gig doesn't commence until 8.30 - just have to watch out for wet leaves on the road.

The BBC site was astonishingly accurate last night, S_A. I popped out just before 5 and although the pavements were moist, there was still no rain. Then when I left around 6.15pm, there were big puddles everywhere, but the rain had already passed through - exactly the time frame indicated on the weather map hour-by-hour. Indeed, the wind was drying the pavements, the roads were practically dry by the time I reached home.

I imagine you cycled to your evening event by starlight, didn't you? It was very clear in the centre...

PS I have never seen a dog with more fascinating eyes, mahlerei! What a looker!