Friday, December 14, 2018

How Portlanders handled a wet, dark, stormy bike commute

(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Tuesday afternoon was a doozy, weather-wise.

It’s not often I’ll opt out of a bike ride, but I hopped on light rail to make it to a meeting downtown. Why? The conditions were: dark, windy, wet, and cool (just cool enough to need a jacket, just warm enough to make you sweat in it). I can handle each of those variable by themselves, or even two or three of them at once. But when all those factors get together I look for non-biking options if I’m able.

I had a feeling a lot of you battled the deluge, so I posted a photo of a rider battling rain on our Instagram feed and asked our followers to share. I don’t take comfort in other people’s misery, but I have to admit I enjoyed reading all the comments that came in! In case you missed the post, here’s what people had to say:

swanny22Yeah, that was not particularly enjoyable.

icomeoutatnight I worked in it, however it was relatively not that bad. It could’ve rained more and it wasn’t even cold enough for gloves

stahnke_kong & a flat tire on top of it all!!

nwcanyoning 7 miles home from downtown was fun 🀠🚴🏼‍♂️

lechezzzRide home last night definitely had me regretting my decision to forgo rain pants!

carmusmeathole at least it was warm-ish!!

pedalpt Got crushed on my commute home last night πŸ’§πŸ’¦πŸ’§πŸš΄πŸ»πŸ˜£

fixedgearbikescum πŸ’― amazing day to be out. πŸ˜πŸ™Œ

kressanthemum I did feel more badass than usual. Cheers to us all! πŸ’™

ruckuscomp At least it was warm! But that wind was almost as bad as traffic.

sukhostarpdx Soaked to bone.

m_eyes Shoes full of water when I got home!

m_eyes @m_eyes at least my daughter stayed dry in the burley trailer.

hunqaloosa Rain cape saved the day!

bevan97217 Ain’t no thang but a little Pdx weather!✊🏽

jbogli I got to say I honestly enjoyed it. Fun to swim every so often!

bedbug.ben It was fun! I just wish I didn’t have my laptop in my backpack hahaha I was so worried bout it

ssmathes There should be huge tax breaks for bike commuters.

brownb x🚴‍♂️or☠

xfs_xth @showerspass booties saved the day!! πŸ’¦

woosighdough I’ll take the rain over the wind (which wasn’t too bad) any day.

lieselsvedlund Felt good to overcome a little sprinkle πŸ˜‚

ybecauseimbryan Fun riding in that kind of rain. Could do without the cars though. 😁

wherethepavementends It wasn’t bad. Not even cold.

madamezola My legs were soaked (my upper half was swaddled lovingly in @showerspas gear and their magical backpack). At least it was warm and not windy.

j_merrithew Flying by all those people trapped in their traffic gave me all the warm fuzzies I needed!

vquick It wasn’t cold and not even very wet. Really nothing compared to the strong 40 MPH frigid wind gusts we faced last week. #doyouevenbike? πŸ˜‰

neenajean πŸ™πŸΌ

Advertisement

joanbybike I was fine until a block from my house, when the blocked sewer drain meant riding through a huge puddle and my shoes got super wet.

joanbybike @joanbybike But my new @showerspass gloves kept my hands dry!

wendyzworld It was a deluge and the streets were flooded and I loved it! I have good gear πŸ™‚

ashweeepoo Andy & Bax rain gear ftw!!

jayhisey Bravo to all that braved the weather

andreacapbuckle I’ll take the rain over the wind. I gave myself a good laugh Monday though when I was riding along feeling fast and strong. Then I realized there was no wind. Last week was rough compared to this week for me.

billbowlrider My shoes are STILL wet

marshallsteeves I definitely got caught and was DRENCHED! Still worth it though!

frootdawg Yes! Still better than driving!!!!

papi_cet Oh ya, refreshing

banerjek To condition myself for such a traumatic experience, I stand naked in the shower for 15 min each day with water blasting on me. When you’re used to getting drenched like that, you don’t even notice a couple drops of rain. Interesting pic. The helmet and light are designed for mountaineering rather than cycling.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

Never miss a story. Sign-up for the daily BP Headlines email.

BikePortland needs your support.

The post How Portlanders handled a wet, dark, stormy bike commute appeared first on BikePortland.org.



from BikePortland.org https://ift.tt/2EnUwv0

No comments:

Post a Comment