Rain shmain

Traditionally, I've been a total wuss when it comes to riding in the rain. Even with decent rain gear, it's hard to stay dry. And, once wet, the constant air movement sometimes does a great job of thoroughly chilling you to the point of misery. I travel by bicycle to work pretty much every day, and I've reached a point wherein driving a car feels unbearably like admitting defeat. So I'm trying to man up when it comes to bicycling in the rain.

I added fenders to my bike so that I could ride after a rain to keep the wet road grime off of me, but riding while rain is actually falling from the sky is something I've continued to avoid...until I had to do it a few times recently because I got caught in unexpected rain showers while riding home. In so doing, I realized that there are worse things than biking in the rain.

I normally carry a light waterproof windbreaker in my panniers, which helps keep me and my clothes dry in the case of a light shower. My primary concern, though, was my leather saddle getting wet, so I recently went out and bought myself an Aardvark waterproof saddle cover. I wasn't thrilled with the idea of sitting on a plastic shopping bag and I decided the Aardvark would look nicer and perform better. And at about $12 a pop, it's not a bad value. I've heard that the cover doesn't do well to keep the saddle dry if stored outside in drenching downpours, but then again, that's not what it's made for and that's not what I need it for. I just need something to keep the saddle dry when I slide off of it at stop lights. And this baby does just that (as I found out during a light rain as I rode home this afternoon).