Cycling in the Rain
 

I enjoyed that this morning riding in the dark, with wind and rain. It was surreal.

surreal or suicidal?

I like riding in the rain, but I hate cleaning the bike up afterwards. Thus, I tend ot avoid riding in the rain.

I generally refuse to clean my bike until I feel sorry for her.

That's beaseu you don't blowing money needlessly on new chains. If you clean them regualrly they last a long time. Riding in the rain and not cleaning your drive train will shorten the life of your chain.

You said money and i went out and cleaned my chain.

Creekster...are you pulling my chain?

No. Riding in the rain typically result in road spray getting on your chain and this includes a lot of grit and stuff that would not otherwise be there. This increase the wear on your entire drive chain. After riding in the rain you need to clean the chain (degrease) and the cogs and chain rings and then re-lubricate. If you use one of those waxy prodcuts, make sure the chain is very clean before you lubricate it or else you will be holding grit on the chain instead of keeping it off.

Also, if you have a steel frame and you road in heavy rain you might want to make sure the frame can drain properly. Most of my frames are aluminum so I don't care too much about that one.

Finally, you also need to check your brake pads and make sure there isn't any road grime lodged in them, as this will dig into your rims. You shoudl do this before every ride anyway, but it particualrly important after a rainy day ride.