From what I understand the best way to prepare for racing in the rain--which I expect I will have to do sooner or later--is to practice riding hard in the rain. While I'm all for sticking it out if the weather is going to turn nasty, I generally avoid starting a ride in a monsoon. So when I woke up this morning to lightning and thunderstorms, I felt content to check on the progress of Dauphine Libere and crawl back in bed for an hour or so.
Sooner or later this has to change, and I'm a bit ashamed of my bashfulness in the face of bad weather on my bike, but I have plenty of excuses today and probably will for awhile still. For instance today: I have a trial saddle on my bike that I'm not supposed to ride in wet conditions, I'm about to start some summer vacation time before going to medical school and I don't want to blow it by ruining my plans with an early summer cold, or (my favorite and probably longest lasting) right now I have to keep my bike in the apartment because we don't have other space for it and I don't want to get the carpet all dirty when I come home wet.
Bottom line, I'm still a bit of a wimp and I'm not getting paid to ride when riding is less reasonable/more risky (although, I frequently choose to ride when less reasonable/more risky simply for the thrill of it). But I'll overcome my excuses soon enough and have more to tell you about the benefits of riding in the rain when nature demands it...maybe.
