It Never Hurts to Ask

[Velocivixen]

Darcy, thanks so much for explaining how the "meet up" works. I think I'll look over the rides and register soon. I'm excited to get acquainted with folks who are at my same level and we can help each other out. I do have one woman friend who I ride with on Wednesday. She drops her dad at the senior center and then has about 1.5 hours to spend. We're riding here shortly, despite the call for showers.
I have an Endura Luminite Women's cycling jacket which is waterproof and breathable, has pit zips, lots of reflective, and a blinky light on the tail part! At REI I bought some waterproof pants (didn't like the bike specific ones), which have zippers from the knees down and would easily fit over "regular" clothes. I have a wool "flap up" beanie type hat where the bottom edges either go down over your ears or flip up so it looks like a beanie. I've got fingerless gloves, Specialized Tahoe bike shoes, smartwool socks. I really think I'll buy some winter gloves NOW when they're on sale for sure. Do you have any favorites?
I bought a Gore Women's Alp X Thermo Jersey (although I thought it was a jacket), but it's bike specific, so other than winter gloves I'm pretty set.
Thanks for all your suggestions and encouragement.
Sandra

[DarcyInOregon]

Regarding the winter gloves, I like the Pearl Izumi winter gloves (PI). You might not know this, but at the Woodburn Factory Outlet Mall, there is a PI outlet store. The group leader of my Tuesday female training group is the wife of the local bike shop owner. She goes to the PI outlet store and is pleased to find cycle clothing for her personal use that she can buy for less than her cost for purchasing PI inventory to sell in the bike shop. I bought my most recent pair of winter gloves there last autumn, along with a long-sleeve thermal jersey in bright yellow to layer or wear alone.

I have two different types of cycling rain jackets. One is for certain water proof that I wear when the entire ride will be in the rain and I can go for 50 miles without the rain soaking through. The second is a light weight rain resistant jacket that zips into its own rear pocket and can be tied around the middle or to the bike for when the rain is light and scattered; it also functions as a wind breaker and the sleeves can zip off and be stored in the rear pocket. Whatever type of rain jacket you wear, be sure to keep that back pocket zipped in the rain. I was on a group ride earlier this spring, the rain was a constant deluge, and when I finished the ride the back pocket was entirely filled with water because I had forgotten to zip it closed.

Rain pants can be any type of light weight rain pant designed for any sport, as long as there is flexibility to allow for movement of the legs. Be sure to tie the bottoms or the cuffs will rip in the drive chain. I gave up on using rain pants some years ago because they either didn't keep me dry for an extended ride in heavy rain or the fabric kept ripping or I lost flexibility of the pedaling movement. This winter I used several different types of winter cycling tights that I purchased off of TE several years ago, one by Canari that has waterproof material on the front of the legs, and the second being the Terry winter tights. The Canari I wore when heavy rain was in the forecast; the Terry I wore when no to light rain, but temps on the bike were below 40.

[Velocivixen]

Hi Darcy. I just joined the Butts on Bikes meetup group. I'm just looking at their calendar and a lot of the rides are either too long or too fast for me, but I'll keep looking.
I didn't know about the PI at the outlet mall. I'd definitely go check them out.

What jacket do you have that you said is your second light weight rain resistant jacket that zips into its own rear pocket? That sounds like something good to have on a day when you're not sure what it's going to do, and if it does rain might just be light or misty.

That's funny about water in your back pocket! I never would have thought of that. My back zip pocket has a "storm flap" over it, but it's good to remember to zip just in case.
Well, you've been a wealth of information and I sure appreciate it! I think it's important to "pay it forward" in life, so I'll be sure to be generous in sharing my knowledge to others. Thanks again.

[DarcyInOregon]

The brand of jacket I use for wind/rain resistance is Canari, the one where the sleeves zip off to turn into a wind vest, and the entire jacket can turn into a fanny pack and be tied around the waist or back.

Here is the men's version, as many women prefer the men's sizing for the longer length: http://www.rei.com/product/805102/ca...ke-jacket-mens

Here is the women's version: http://www.rei.com/product/721286/ca...-jacket-womens

Remember, this jacket is not designed to be water proof. This type of jacket is the number one jacket used by cyclists for the intermediate temperatures and intermediate rain. I would say on any given event ride in the spring that 80% of the cyclists start out wearing a jacket similar to this one. If the ride starts with a temp of 30-40 but will warm up over the course of the ride to over 60, one wears a short-sleeve jersey underneath. If the temp remains under 60, then a long-sleeve jersey. If the temp remains under 55, then probably two layers underneath, like a long sleeve with a thermal over and the jacket on top. The jacket functions well to protect against light rain or intermittent rain and wind chill.

TE may sell a version of this jacket under another maker.

Good luck on finding some groups to ride with. You can always ride solo and when you are comfortable with riding 30 miles easily with at least a 12 mph average, then more possibilities will open up to you.