Simply Cycle: Replacing greedy capitalists, and too dumb to come in from the rain.

There are certainly ironic things that happen. The purchase of Pabst Brewing co by a Russian business conglomerate is one of the great crises of our time. Those of us who grew up in a time before microbrews remember the days people distrusted American capitalists.

We have since watched our world cave in to Japanese investors, then Chinese and now our cold war enemy is buying an iconic beer brand. This would be a moral quandary for baby boomer bikers for whom beer is the most important re hydration compound ever. Honestly, we don't give a shit. We can afford the micro brews in our neighborhood and the parking ticket for our BMW's equipped with the overpriced Cervelo on the roof. Nowadays, manipulation by evil totalitarians means nothing to the fixie hipsters who have gravitated to the brand. Sigh!

In other big news, our club held their anniversary ride this past weekend. It was limited this year by unseasonably cool temps and the threat of rain. The event is enjoyable, we meet at the local trail head, take over the shelter ride a little and hang out and eat a lot.

The rain was foreboding (love that word), but most of us avoided everything except some mist while riding. The real stuff came down on the way home and that's what I came for.

Truly, I am not smart enough to come in from the rain. I actually wore out my Campmor Rain Cape. What! It's PVC for Crissakes! It has a half-life of 750 billion years to degrade. It's true though, I wore it so much that the water repellent wore out. I retreated it with some Coleman stuff, that helps, but you know it will never be the same. It was, and they still are, a bargain at 35-40 bucks, and it kept me dry for 4 years. I will still be using it in it's weak, diminished form because it will work for camping trips.

For town I broke down and bought a Grundens rain cape. This was my first opportunity to try it. Grundens products are known for keeping North Atlantic fishermen dry and comfy

so I think I can trust them.

Doesn't that logo inspire confidence? It makes me feel good.

The only place I found this is on the Rivendell site. It's another design Grant had his fingers in.

Since I always risk sounding like a shill for Riv products, I Googled and Yahooed the crap out this cape and found nothing else. As nearly as I could find, they are the only ones who sell it.

There are prettier and trendier capes out there, but they are two to 3 times the price and not made in this obnoxiously visible yellow which can be seen in day as well as at night.
Others struggle to be more fashionable but are not as visible.
Staying alive is a priority, so I like obnoxiously visible in the rain.

Since Grundens has a reputation for being impervious to water, and the cape is yellow, I was afraid it would be that really heavy rubberized "slicker" material. Not so, it's a very light and pliable but obviously dense fabric. Compared to the Campmor product there is a huge difference in quality. The Campmor cape is what you pay for, an inexpensive treated shell. The Grundens has a light, napped polyester lining inside to improve the comfort and warmth as well as better outer fabric. It is also longer in the right places. The front of the Campmor is 34 inches long from the neckline. The Grundens is 50" long. The effective difference is that the Campmor covers your hands and gets to the handlebars, the Grundens not only covers your hands, it drapes over the handlebars.

The ride home from the anniversary ride was my first opportunity to use it. It wasn't raining hard but the cape really is a world more comfortable and more effective.
According to the reputation, I can look forward to years and years of comfort in this cape.
There are more fashionable ways to go about it,