Riding in the wet

Not keen on riding in the rain? Have a look at these riding tips, and you might just approach the next wet ride a bit differently...

Not many of us particularly enjoy it, but riding in the wet is difficult to avoid. In many cases, as the waterproofs are dug out, riding speeds reduce, and generally speaking, far less fun is had. But riding through rain can be done with quite aplomb when you know how to do it. We talked to Ryan Decarteret, National Operations Manager and coach at Rapid Training, to get some tips on how to improve our wet riding and enjoy our bikes no matter what the weather brings.

MSL: How much grip is there in the wet?

RYAN: Quite a lot - usually a lot more than riders expect. The 'stickiness' of a road surface is measured by assessing its coefficient of friction (COF). On a good, dry road we would expect a COF of around 0.7 - that's a ratio of how much sideways force is required to move a block compared to its weight. If the road is wet, the COF would be reduced to about 0.5. Whilst a drop from 0.7 to 0.5 is significant, it's not huge.