Dry down is more of an art than a science. And by art I mean like preschool finger painting, not Sistine ceiling stuff.

My most crucial gear is kept in two waterproof Ortlieb panniers. The laptop is inside its own drysack inside one of those, so doubly protected. A dry change of clothing is also kept in those waterproof bags.

I have a large garbage bag that I put my bedroll in when I expect rain. This offers roughly 95% protection for it.

The camping hammock always gets wet, as does my shaving kit and most of my other possessions. When it rains I wear only shorts and a Tshirt and allow myself to get soaked completely (more fun than sweating inside my rain jacket) so those and my shoes may not dry out even left hanging up all night. Often they are still wet when I put them on in the morning.

As far as I can tell the hammock does not suffer from being damp so often and as of yesterday it has not acquired any mildew.

The Giant himself is pretty hearty. Genius Inventor Ben told me it will not harm him (the bike) to leave him out in the rain, and indeed I’ve done so many times. There is no clear performance difference except that I need to take care to oil his chain as soon as possible once it stops raining. There have been times the Giant has been out all night in storms and was still raring to go in the morning.

I’ve never experienced any (direct) health conditions due to being out in the rain on this trip. In theory being cold can lower your immune system and increase your chance of getting sick, but I seldom feel cold. Most days it is 60+ even if it’s raining which is just fine. I feel most people are far too sensitive about rainy weather. In the summer you can be out in the rain and it is totally comfortable. The discomfort is only in our heads.

A coworker of mine (hi Annie!) once told me that if you can just start to enjoy biking in the rain, you’ll really enjoy biking in the rain. Honestly it’s like a ritual or a party game. Hair, shirt, pants, socks, everything is wet and you’re just laughing and charging down the road with this glorious wind in your face. Kids do this stuff for fun. It’s recreation. As an adult there is an added thrill that comes from ego. When people see you biking in the rain you are a badass. Cars give you more room and slow down a little. People look at you and smile or cheer you on. What a cool thing.

One thing I do change in the rain is make sure to wear my contacts, because it’s hard to see through rainy glasses. My helmet has a little bit of a shade visor which keeps the rain off my face (sometimes). As long as you can see fine it’s a blast.

It raises questions like: how long does it take you and your gear to get dry? Is there a standard dry down procedure for the giant? Is this going to give you chills or a cold?

I’ll share my favorite weather app.

Try to stay safe and use some of my abnormal fear.