This trip is a little different. The weather forecast was for an extended period of rain over lunch so I thought this would be a good opportunity to try out my wet weather strategy. Basically that's what I normally wear but with over-trousers and my Endura hi-vis jacket. Maybe surprisingly my Surly has hardly got wet since I bought it over 1333 km ago.
So standard bike with Ortlieb panniers. As another experiment I tried NUUN tablets in my water bottle. NUUN is just electrolytes – it is not a source of sugar or carbs. Tastes good and doesn't cloy like some energy drinks. Don't know if I really need them but it's good to try things out before a mission critical outing.
I started out with just my jacket as the rain was very light. Soon I put on the over trousers as its really started to come down. They were 'ok' certainly 'good enough' but not great. I may look for some Goretex trousers with a more friendly lining. A zip leg like athletes trousers would be good too.
Ortlieb panniers performed faultlessy - excellent.
The main difference you notice in the wet is the bikes braking ability which isn't good. The last drop down Chalk Pit Lane was quite tricky.
There is a handy French Style coffee van at the Botley Hill Farmhouse which seems to be a bit of a stopover point for cyclists
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