Pleasure or duty? Holidays or work?

Some riders just do not mind riding in the rain.  It means just an extra light rain jacket to take with you and getting your feet a bit wet.  Ok, this might be fine provided your ride does not exceed 30 km or about one hour.
Now, let’s suppose you have 120 km to go, and it has been raining from the beginning, or early on during your ride.  Could you go 4 hours in the wet and cold, getting more and more chilled to the bone with that strong head wind?
Because most of our customers don’t want this experience, I have decided to exclusively suggest routes down South, where you are far less likely to experience rain and wet, slippery roads.  After all, did you come all the way from Australia for rain, turning your ride into a working, grey, duty day, or did you come for a bit of a holiday, to enjoy the sun that the south of France is famous for?

Rain: more than a extra jacket

There is more to a long ride in the rain than just a rain jacket.
- You must have rainproof overshoe boots too.
- The water and the relative wind will certainly chill you starting with your feet and hands.
- Your nicks and shoes will be so wet that they might not dry for the next day.
- For those who wear goggles, i.e.  most riders, your vision will quickly become impaired.
- The road is rendered slippery, especially in bends at high speed, such as going down a hill or a mountain.
- In the city, you may come across the occasional paved/cobbled road, which is typically very slippery when wet.
- Your wheels will spray a lot of water, mud, and sand, that will end up all over your bike, your chain, your sprocket, and yourself
- The cars and trucks that pass you will spray you with all their wet greetings from their wheels.

Online weather: no excuse

Since the early noughties, you have (almost) no excuse for getting caught in a shower, unless you must ride on a particular day.  Weather forecasts these days are good enough to allow you to decide what is the best day for your next ride.  However, when you participate in an event, a set date has usually been fixed, and you can only hope that the weather will be clement.