Hi gang.  I've spoken recently on the dangers of wet roads and hydroplaning and steps to take to protect yourselves.  While I am great at preaching about it, sometimes my other life's alter ego doesn't allow me to make those same decisions.  You know how those pesky obligations and responsibilities can get in the way of good decision making. I want to reemphasize a few things. First, if it's raining and you can delay riding for a little while, do it.  The few minutes that you save by continuing on isn't worth the risk of going down on a wet road.

Second, if you can't delay the trip, avoid the painted surfaces of the roadway.  The center line, the fog line on the edge of the road, that wide stop bar at intersections, all of them are as slick as glass in a downpour. If a four wheel car can spin out of control with the slightest turn of the wheel, two wheels don't stand a chance. And since we ride on two wheels more often than not, think about the difference.  A car tire has about 64 square inches of contact surface beneath each tire and a bike has about 12.  I'm no math major but that's a huge difference to be betting your life and health on.

And since I'm talking about rain, let's focus on another aspect of bad weather riding which is visibility.  We usually have one headlight, a little tail light about the size of a playing card and for some reason and affinity for black clothes. Add in a gray haze from road spray, a wall of rain or low light conditions and we may as well be invisible.  This means you have to see the other guy/gal and be prepared to react to whatever they do, taking into consideration that the road surface may be less than ideal for quick maneuvering.

We do live in Florida which means we can't always choose the weather we ride home in. Be safe, use your head, try to stay on the dry roads and last but not least, "Smile, I could be behind you!"