Rain gear part 1
| January 23, 2010 | Posted by Melinda under Uncategorized |
Thanks everyone who has commented on my previous posts. Y’all are basically echoing my little demons/angels on my shoulder. I need to keep in mind that at this point I’m only looking at 1-2 weeks off-not a deal breaker. Regarding the nqrness/lameness whatever from the previous post. I don’t have any updates (obviously since that would require it not to rain and the sun to broil all the moisture away covering the arena…). It only showed up on 20 meter trot circles when collected, and then not consistently. Obviously, when I CAN put her arena and check her out, any sign of it again puts an IMMEDIATE nix on ANY riding plans ’till I get it figured out! In the meantime I have nothing better to do than to sit here and consider your comments and come up with plans, alternative plans, and contigency plans for my alternative plans…
On to real subject of the post! Rainy wear. Now, I’m sure that ANYONE besides me (a Californian) is more qualified to write this post, but I’m going to give it my best shot.
My first rainy endurance ride I was woefully unprepared. It was funny in a tragic sort of way. I kept up the optmistic view all day that at “any” time the sun was going to come out, I just knew it. At the end of 55 miles I was so cold and wet (and still suprisingly cheery) that I had a full blown panic attack when driving to ride with my sister the next day and raindrops hit the windshield. (incidentally this was the same excursion that turned into the bear story previously featured on this blog). For a solid 8 months I could NOT be cold outdoors or the least bit wet. Now lest you think I am exagerating, let’s look at just how woefully unprepared I was!
Exhibit 1:
Cotton naturals full seat cotton breeches
Long sleeve cotton shirt
Cotton socks with ariat terrains
Wind breaker – not water proof
All seasons ssg gloves
Let’s recap what happened shall we?
Any guesses how long I stayed dry? That’s right, about 30 seconds. Some kind person took pity on me and gave me rain pants and jacket, and lent me a rump rug (a cya).
In the first 5 miles I happen to look down at my pants and found the tatters of the rain pants hanging off my thighs. I thought this enormously hysteriacal at the time and couldn’t describe it with dissolving into laughter for a long time. Any who… The gloves got soaked early on and I experimented whether it was
colder with them on or off. Naturally by the time that I had put on the rain jacket, my windbreaker was already soaked so it only served to keep me wet and clammy.
The last thing to get wet was my feet. I was riding in my McClellan saddle with blessed covered stirrups. About halfway through the ride I decided to get off and walk on an effort to stay warm and that was the last of warm, dry feet.
On another subject, that was also the ride that I had a pair of reins disenegrate. It was also Minx’s last aerc completion.
So, I learned (a few) things about riding in the rain and proper gear- to be discussed in the next post as I have HAD it with typing on the iPod and maintaining proper grammer and spelling!
– Posted using BlogPress from my iPod
I LURVED cotton while I lived in the South. Really, nothing keeps you dry when it’s that hot and humid, and cotton’s cheap and natural. But then we moved out here, and I discovered the joys of wool socks (yes, even in summer!) and then I realized I’m both warmer and dryer in polyester base layers. My transition to the dark high-tech side is almost complete.
I still love my blue jeans though. :arms crossed like Stephen Colbert:
polarfleece = your friend! Also gortex (vortex?), thinsulate, smartwool, and poly pro.
jeans = best choice for home, in close proximity to the washer/dryer and another outfit of dry clothing!
“cotton kills”, I learned that early in my outdoor adventuring career. It gets wet and stays wet and wicks warmness! (oooh, and chafs like craziness!) I won’t wear the stuff outdoors until at least June. Maybe not until July….!
wv: outch
the word you use to describe that burn mark on the inside of your leg, caused by rubbing wet jeans between your leg and your saddle for more than 20 miles!