Cycling and walking in pouring rain -- the differences

Since more than one week it rains more or less constantly in Austria. There is a lot of flooding in many parts of the country going on. Fortunately Vienna has a good flood protection -- the Danube island, which is also a great recreational area and hosts the Danube Island Free Festival each year. This year it was, well, wet. And it is still raining and will be for a few more days.

Remember, when I wrote about the cycling poncho that I once got from the city of Vienna? Last week during cycling it was pouring with rain, and the poncho was not sufficient. The problem was that it is only a very short poncho and didn't cover my legs. I should really buy a proper cycling poncho that extends over the handle bars and also protects my legs. By the way, I do have fenders on my bike, but that should be self-evident.

Out in the rain. Boring picture but lovely weather.

My jeans got completely soaked (expect a little strip on the back). Luckily I was on my ride home and it didn't matter. Otherwise I probably would simply have waited for the heavy rain to stop. But I don't do it if I don't have to as I love to practice my rain cycling skills :-). I'm not a person who would avoid so-called "unpleasant" weather unless it's perilous.

So what about the title of this post? Yes, I got also caught by the rain when walking from a Citybike station to home on Saturday night. Luckily my backpack has a rain shield. Apart from a jacket I didn't wear anything waterproof though and my trousers got soaked again. I noticed a slight difference to the previously mentioned rain cycling experience -- my trousers got more wet on the back.

Cycling vs. walking in rain

Conclusion: Even if you don't have proper rain gear you will stay drier when you cycle, because you're exposed to the rain shorter and have an advantageous posture that keeps the hollows of your knees and behind dry :-).