Quote:
vaxn8r wrote:
So I think you guys who don't lay off in the wet are a little crazy. It's not like you're being paid zillion bucks to lay it on the line. Not to mention, if one in the group goes down, likely so does everyone behind you. Not cool!
No, not cool.
However, I'm little confused with those that slow down alot in the wet. I think slowing down only lessens the impact speed with the ground. Yes, that's a good thing, but I don't see how slowing down, per se, will reduce your chances of falling in the wet.
I've thought about my crashes. Most of them happened so fast that there was little if anything I could do to avoid it. I had no time to react. I reached that point of impending crash before I understood what was happening and could do anything about it. Of course, if I had the time to react, then most probably, by definition, I didn't crash! So my point is that crashes happen SO fast, I don't see how slowing down 25% (or whatever) will prevent the crash. The other way I've avoided a crash is just plain 'ol luck. Sometime you just do the right thing and everything works out.
Slowing down will buy you some reaction time to SEE the manhole cover, painted line etc. But if you hit the WET manhole cover on a dry day or a wet day, it's just as slippery. I don't think a few mph difference or a few milliseconds (microseconds?) will buy you the time to react if you're already on the cover and sliding out. Nobody's reactions are that fast. The slowing down only allows you to better see and anticipate and thus avoid the manhole cover altogether.
Slowing down works in cars because car tires hydroplane. Bike tires do not hydroplane. At least not at speeds we are normally capable of attaining.
Quote:
Any ride in the rain is a bonus ride as far as I'm concerned. ... We got 35 miles in...
I once rode ~35 miles in southwestern France. Driving rain with incredible gusts. The kind of rain where the wipers on you car would be on High and still not keep your windshield clear. I had full rain gear, no fenders (not that either would have made ANY difference.) I was soaked, but not too cold and mostly afraid of the cars that could not see us. And, I think highly of French drivers and their very courteous attitude towards cyclist. Anyhow, that ride was not a bonus.
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Skuke
95 Carbonframes Tetra Pro
92 Bridgestone MB-1
90 Moser 51.151
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