Wet weather

Another, fairly dull, cycling-related post I'm afraid. More on the garden, slugs, harvesting, music and other stuff to come when I have some time. If that's not a tempting proposition that'll make you bookmark my blog then I don't know what will. Hey, I lead an exciting life!!! ;-)

It's been pretty wet lately. And pretty unpredictably wet. ("Welcome to England" I hear you cry...indeed!) This has caused me some interesting problems like:

• Do I pack my wet weather gear when it's looking dry?
• Do I leave the office when it's raining, or wait for it to clear up?
• Do I don my wet weather gear, if I have it, before doing my commute?
• How do I manage the problem of wet kit when I've been caught out and had a soaking?

Inspiring stuff...I know! ("Yawn")

So I've been thinking about expanding my wet weather wardrobe. But in which direction?

Mostly my top-half is fine. I have a waterproof cycling jacket (but, oh for a Gore-Tex®Paclite®Shell - anyone care to donate me £130?), and your head just gets wet, that's fine.

The problem is shoes, socks, shorts and overtrousers. My overtrousers aren't cycling-specific and send water straight down into my shoes or over-shoes. Without them my shorts get sodden and I'd still get wet shoes. This might not be a bad thing if I had spare shorts. My summer gloves also get soaked and I don't have spares. The upshot of all this is that I've been getting wet, and my kit hasn't had time to dry out.

And decent wet-weather kit isn't cheap. So what do I invest in? Do I go for spare shorts? Or proper over trousers? Do I get a second pair of gloves, or put up with them as they're not too bad to wear when wet. What about waterproof socks? Shoes? 3/4 length overshorts?

Hmm...

I claim that cycling is great in lots of ways, but kitting yourself out can be an expensive chore!