LIMited traction#

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:45:25 +0000

From http://www.anothercyclingforum.com/index.php?action=profile;u=2985;sa=showPosts :

I went to Hillingdon Cycle Circuit today [Sunday], to watch (and marshal for) the London Inline Marathon.  It rained.  It started dropping a few drops when I was about five minutes from home, in Clerkenwell, then it started raining seriously at Marble Arch, then it continued to rain seriously more or less all the way there after that.

After the races I got a lift to a friend's house near Twickenham for food and beer (but I repeat myself), then rode back.  Approx 15 miles each way.

I made three useful discoveries about my supposedly wet-weather-capable bike: one, that the braking in the wet is hugely and horrifically pants; two, that a slightly underinflated gatorskin on wet ground has a way of skating over the surface which is most reminiscent of a politician being interviewed on the Today programme; three, that on a damp and humid day my SPD shoes will retain enough water that if I get my feet soaked at 9am the skin will have turned wrinkly by 2pm. 

Still, the racing was good. And the ride back was fun