Tales from today's commute....

[Arjimlad]

Tbh I really can't be arsed with overshoes. They never seem to work properly or last that long. Its not cold at the moment so normal shoes it is, dried on a heater at work. In the winter the winter boots come out. Far better than overshoes.

That reminded me to check my gloves on the radiator - it had gone cold
My thicker BBB neoprene overshoes have been great, probably done 4 winters at least now. Granted they will all eventually let some wet in.. if I found some bargain boots I might be tempted.

 

[ianrauk]

That reminded me to check my gloves on the radiator - it had gone cold
My thicker BBB neoprene overshoes have been great, probably done 4 winters at least now. Granted they will all eventually let some wet in.. if I found some bargain boots I might be tempted.

4 winters? That's good going for overshoes. Was it @fossyant that used to sing their praises too?

 

[Arjimlad]

@ianrauk I just checked. Bought them in September 2013!!

 

[Lovacott]

My commute has been an absolute $hit over the last couple of days, mainly due to me arriving at work with soaking wet trainers and socks from the rain and puddles whilst drenched in sweat on the top half from my rain jacket.

I've spent a small fortune on my bike this year and now I'm looking for some practical (but inexpensive) solutions to a couple of things.

1. Keeping my feet dry on a flat pedalled MTB (I'm thinking either waterproof hiking boots or wellies).

2. Keeping my top half dry from both the sweat and the rain at the same time.

I know that I could solve both of the above with many hundreds of pounds, but I'm looking at a budget of between £50 and £100 tops.

 

[C R]

My commute has been an absolute $hit over the last couple of days, mainly due to me arriving at work with soaking wet trainers and socks from the rain and puddles whilst drenched in sweat on the top half from my rain jacket.

I've spent a small fortune on my bike this year and now I'm looking for some practical (but inexpensive) solutions to a couple of things.

1. Keeping my feet dry on a flat pedalled MTB (I'm thinking either waterproof hiking boots or wellies).

2. Keeping my top half dry from both the sweat and the rain at the same time.

I know that I could solve both of the above with many hundreds of pounds, but I'm looking at a budget of between £50 and £100 tops.

Overshoes should address no 1, I don't think there's a lot you can do about no 2, even spending some money.

 

[Lovacott]

Overshoes should address no 1, I don't think there's a lot you can do about no 2, even spending some money.

I was thinking more along the lines of waterproof or water resistant boots. I've ridden home quite a few times in steel toe capped work boots and on a flat MTB pedal, they work quite well. A water proof baseball or hiking boot would probably do the job. I've looked at overshoes but I don't really want to spend tens of pounds trying out different types.

 

[rivers]

I was thinking more along the lines of waterproof or water resistant boots. I've ridden home quite a few times in steel toe capped work boots and on a flat MTB pedal, they work quite well. A water proof baseball or hiking boot would probably do the job. I've looked at overshoes but I don't really want to spend tens of pounds trying out different types.

Velotoze. They are a bitch to get on, but as long as the latex is against the skin, there will be no water ingress

 

[Lovacott]

Velotoze. They are a bitch to get on, but as long as the latex is against the skin, there will be no water ingress

I commuted for all five days of last week and today I have feet which feel like blocks of ice. I'm getting a deep aching pain in my foot bones which is similar to the pain I would get if I'd put my feet into a bucket of freezing water for a week?

Meanwhile, my top half has been sweating buckets up the big hills.

I'm willing to try anything to keep my feet dry and I must admit that Velotoze do look pretty good.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[cyberknight]

Got pish wet through both ways today, no mount of gear was going to keep me dry as the roads were already starting to flood at 5 .3 0 am .

 

[Oldhippy]

I wear good walking boots for everything and if it rains cheap waterproofs trousers and jacket from Go Outdoors. Never had an issue getting wet. I don't race when in waterproofs so don't sweat any more than normal.

 

[Lovacott]

I wear good walking boots for everything and if it rains cheap waterproofs trousers and jacket from Go Outdoors. Never had an issue getting wet. I don't race when in waterproofs so don't sweat any more than normal.

Because I ride an MTB down muddy lanes, waterproof workboots would probably be ideal. I'm looking at wider and grippier flat MTB pedals to replace the crappy standard set of plastic ones I got from Halfords.

 

[Lovacott]

Got pish wet through both ways today, no mount of gear was going to keep me dry as the roads were already starting to flood at 5 .3 0 am .

On the way in wasn't too bad. I just got very wet.

On the way home, I was getting blown all over the shop and got even more wet.

But it was an experience I will always remember as opposed to the humdrum routine of sitting in a car listening to Radio 2 in a traffic jam.

 

[C R]

On the way in wasn't too bad. I just got very wet.

On the way home, I was getting blown all over the shop and got even more wet.

But it was an experience I will always remember as opposed to the humdrum routine of sitting in a car listening to Radio 2 in a traffic jam.

I don't mind much getting wet, it is the being blown about by the wind that I don't like.

 

[Lovacott]

I don't mind much getting wet, it is the being blown about by the wind that I don't like.

I have big Devon banks either side of me on the lanes but where the lanes bend or whenever I pass a farm gate, I get a nasty sideways gust.

I haven't been blown off my bike by the wind yet, but I've had to fight it more than few times.

 

[Lovacott]

Yesterday evening on my way home, the weather was fine with a 10% chance of showers when I left work so I stuck with shorts and tee shirt for the ride home.

About three miles in, on a country lane as I rounded a bend, I could see three greyhounds walking together on the left and I assumed the owner was out of sight on the right holding the lead. As the bend straightened, I saw that the greyhounds were walking without an owner?

As I got closer, one of the greyhounds clocked me and all three started to run. This is when I realised that I was actually seeing three Deer.

They ran in a mad panic up ahead of me and tried to leap every farm gate they came across in order to escape. Fearing one of them would get injured. I stopped for a couple of minutes and let them get clear (rather than chase them onto the main road a mile ahead).

About five minutes later, brilliant sunshine disappeared under the blackest of clouds and I got pelted half to death by hailstones and hit face on by a 30mph headwind.

Memories are made from days like this.