Hydroplane

"GABIKE" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Ive always been a sissy when the weather looks bad on a planned ride day. Watching Hamilton with a
broken collar bone has inspired me to stop being

a

Quoted message said:

wuss. I rode in a thunderstorm last night and loved it. I hit some water

on the

Quoted message said:

road and while I didnt slide I felt I was not in good contact with the

road in

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a couple of spots. In what ways do I need to change my riding style when

its

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raining?

I love riding in the rain. But what really makes it fun is a good set of fenders. These keep the
road grime off you and your bike. As for handling, you will never be able to reach a speed fast
enough to make those skinny tires hydroplane. As long as you know there aren't potholes hiding under
the puddle, take them as fast as you like. Watch for slick surfaces like brick, manhole covers, and
the center of the lane where oil normally drips from cars. Corners are a spot where a lot of debris
collects too. So watch for leaves and sand. I have seen some around here say that cornering in the
wet makes no difference (debris, etc. aside), but I err on the side of caution.

Putting in miles in the rain makes everyone think you are crazy. But it does cut down on the amount
of traffic, both auto and cyclist. With the right gear, I have found that rainy days are one of my
favorite times to ride. Welcome to the club.

-Buck

(GABIKE) said:

Ive always been a sissy when the weather looks bad on a planned ride day. Watching Hamilton with
a broken collar bone has inspired me to stop being a wuss. I rode in a thunderstorm last night
and loved it. I hit some water on the road and while I didnt slide I felt I was not in good
contact with the road in a couple of spots. In what ways do I need to change my riding style when
its raining?

You might run a little less pressure in your tires on rainy days, and as Buck suggested - be careful
when plowing through standing water that might contain pot holes or debris. About the only time rain
is dangerous is when it hasn't rained in a long time and the rain has just started to liberate all
the dried oil on the road.

Be VERY careful on metal grate bridges.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles habcycles.comhabcycles.comOpen ↗ Home of the $695 ti frame

Quoted message said:

Ive always been a sissy when the weather looks bad on a planned ride day. Watching Hamilton with a
broken collar bone has inspired me to stop being

a

Quoted message said:

wuss. I rode in a thunderstorm last night and loved it. I hit some water

on the

Quoted message said:

road and while I didnt slide I felt I was not in good contact with the

road in

Quoted message said:

a couple of spots. In what ways do I need to change my riding style when

its

Quoted message said:

raining?

First off, bicycle tires don't hydroplane. The tires are too skinny, the loading too high and the
speeds too low for that to occur. But that doesn't mean they don't slip when wet! Just for entirely
different reasons.

What I have on my rain bike are slightly wider tires, which I've found makes all the difference in
the world. Much safer feeling, and when you hit something slick (like oil on top of water), yes,
they slip a bit, but they recover more quickly.

The most dangerous road conditions I've found are when there's been a light rain and the road
surface isn't uniformly wet. Going from wet to dry to wet surfaces is much more dangerous than
riding in a torrential downpour, where traction seems more consistent.

Also, watch out for tar stripes (those spots where they've repaired the roads with stripes of tar).
They can be exceptionally slippery when there's even a hint of moisture.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

GABIKE said:

the road in a couple of spots. In what ways do I need to change my riding style when its raining?

Most of the suggestions have been very good. I'll add that you need to avoid painted road markings
as much as metal plates or tar spots. That white stripe on the side of the road marking the shoulder
is just about where a lot of people ride, and it is extremely slippery when wet.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember _`\(,_ | that your initial
objective was to drain the swamp. -- LBJ (_)/ (_) |

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Ive always been a sissy when the weather looks bad on a planned ride day. Watching Hamilton with a
broken collar bone has inspired me to stop being a wuss. I rode in a thunderstorm last night and
loved it. I hit some water on the road and while I didnt slide I felt I was not in good contact
with the road in a couple of spots. In what ways do I need to change my riding style when its
raining?

Slow down a bit to be sure you don't run out of traction, and make sure your brakes are working well
before you get to the stop light/sign.

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (GABIKE)

asked:

Quoted message said:

In what ways do I need to change my riding style when its raining?

The other replies covered the traction issue pretty completely. I'll just add that it's a bad idea
to wear light colored cycling shorts in the rain. When they get really wet some colors resemble
Saran Wrap (tm) more than Spandex (tm).

Regards, Bob Hunt

[email hidden] (GABIKE) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

In what ways do I need to change my riding style when its raining?

One suggestion I haven't read yet is to feather your brakes on hills.

If you ride in the rain, you'll have to clean your drive train more often. You'll also wear out your
brakes (and as I have discovered) your rims more often than if you don't.

Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky ([email hidden]) Home of the meditative cyclist:
home.earthlink.netWelcome.htmOpen ↗

GABIKE said:

Ive always been a sissy when the weather looks bad on a planned ride day. Watching Hamilton with a
broken collar bone has inspired me to stop being a wuss.

Watching that crash is the kind of thing that makes me more wussy. That's one of the main reasons
I've never raced. Peletons scare me. I knew too many racers that had serious crashes back when I was
in college.

I still ride in the rain (rare though it is here).

Quoted message said:

I rode in a thunderstorm last night and loved it. I hit some water on the road and while I didnt
slide I felt I was not in good contact with the road in a couple of spots. In what ways do I need
to change my riding style when its raining?

As others have said, you don't really hydroplane on a bike. The tires are too narrow and the speed
is too low.

The suggestions to watch for hidden potholes and debris in standing water are also good. So is the
one to slow down a bit; especially before turns. Brake earlier for stops. One I haven't seen is
don't hit the rear brake at all. It's useless when the road is slick and will only increase the
chances of you ending up on the ground. I'd also avoid or at least be more careful with smooth
concrete as it tends to get a lot slipperier than asphalt.

--Bill Davidson

Mike Jacoubowsky said:

... Also, watch out for tar stripes (those spots where they've repaired the roads with stripes of
tar). They can be exceptionally slippery when there's even a hint of moisture.

Tar is produced from coal and in general has not been used on roadways since WW2. Almost all crack
sealants present on a roadway will be petroleum based asphalt.

Traction on bituminous concrete surfaces is due to the rubber in the tires deforming around the
exposed aggregate particles [1] in the pavement. If the asphalt cement content is excessive, it will
bleed to the surface and result in a low traction area when wet. These areas will be visible, as
they are darker and shine more then the rest of the pavement.

If insufficiently durable aggregate is used in a bituminous concrete pavement, it may become
polished by repeated motor vehicle traffic. This will occur the most in braking zones before
intersections.

[1] Typically over 90% by volume.

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (GABIKE) wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

In what ways do I need to change my riding style when its raining?

One suggestion I haven't read yet is to feather your brakes on hills.

If you ride in the rain, you'll have to clean your drive train more often. You'll also wear out
your brakes (and as I have discovered) your rims more often than if you don't.

As so often mentioned on this list, KoolStop salmon-colored pads work very well in the rain, being
the same compound as the Scott-Matthauser pads, which were around for years. The compound is harder,
which means the pads last a long time, but more importantly, the pads are much more resistant to
getting grit embedded, which is what wears out rims so fast in wet conditions. When you hear that
scraping sound when braking, that's your expensive rims being eaten. Wet rims still take a moment
before the brakes grab, so it's still a good idea to apply the brakes before you actually need them
(predicting this can be a challenge).

An equally important piece of equipment for regular rain riding is fenders. The major benefit is the
way they keep you, and the above-mentioned drivetrain, free of all the road grit sprayed from the
wheels. I know, they look dorky, but the difference in comfort is astonishing, and they really don't
slow you down. My favorite thing is how I can come back from a rainy ride on a *cleaner* bike than I
left with (excepting the wheels, of course). I recently did an all-day group ride on wet roads with
little actual rain, a worst-case grit scenario, to be sure. All the other fenderless riders were
miserable, caked with grit, some had butt rash where the grit had worked into their shorts, I didn't
have a speck.

A tip on standing water & hidden potholes: on many roads it's possible to use the "fog line" to see
pavement breaks under the water surface, even at night. Sometimes painted markings can be slippery
when wet, so I don't ride directly on the line, but hug it near puddles, looking far enough ahead to
reassure myself that there's no yawning crater. I've never seen a painted pothole. In desperation
(on back roads) I'll even use the median stripe.

Braking on wet roads requires an adjustment of reflexes, both because of the wet rim issue and
because of the reduced traction. I've skidded my rear wheel and had it "come around" during panic
stops on wet pavement, a memorable experience... I've also slipped across the width of a wet manhole
cover in a turn, an even more memorable experience...

Sat, 12 Jul 2003 19:44:42 GMT, <[email hidden]>, "Peter Cole"

Quoted message said:

As so often mentioned on this list, KoolStop salmon-colored pads work very well in the rain, being
the same compound as the Scott-Matthauser pads, which were around for years. The compound is
harder, which means the pads last a long time, but more importantly, the pads are much more
resistant to getting grit embedded, which is what wears out rims so fast in wet conditions. When
you hear that scraping sound when braking, that's your expensive rims being eaten

I found that today's salmon pads are softer than the genuine Matthausers. I used those for five
years before they wore out. The rims were in good shape and then got trashed in less than two years
running KoolStop salmons to the wear-line.
--
zk