Rain Legs -- They Work!

Friday evening there was a charity fundraising/send-off drinking party (nomihoudai nomikai) for the Crank Addicts Tokyo 2015 RAAM 4-person team, led by RAAM 2-time team veteran Jamie Slaymaker.  It was raining lightly when I left home, but picked up within a few minutes as I headed into town.  I was riding through lots of puddles of standing water, and a drenching rain, and quickly regretted having taken the bicycle as I started to get cold.

But I was happy to be on the Yamabushi with full fenders and disk brakes.  I was wearing cotton khaki shorts, short sleeve shirt, and Shimano cycling sandals (so no worries about wet shoes -- these sandals are a GREAT alternative for cycling in the wet during the warmer months.  I had on a Pearl Izumi neon yellow lightweight rain shell, and fortunately had snapped on around my waist my Rain Legs -- the rain chaps I picked up during my Portland visit in February.

Hobgoblin -- announcing the raffle winners (not me).
Graham won a bottle of wine -- coals to Newcastle?

Anyway, a few minutes into the ride I unfurled and secured my Rain Legs chaps.  The result?  While the crap Pearl Izumi jacket seems to have lost all of its water resistance features after 2+ years, and my upper body/shirt were soaked through after 15 minutes, the Rain Legs kept my shorts almost completely dry.

Rain Legs!
Off in a few seconds and strategically draped over my seat to dry out by morning.

The same was true on the ride home.  Upper body soaked before the rain let up about 10-15 minutes into the trip, shorts dry all the way home.

They worked relatively well on the Nishi Izu 400k brevet, and I will take them for PBP.  Incredibly light weight and compact/not bulky, not hot/steamy like normal rain pants.

From the Rain Legs website...

They work!