Dry Feet - Gore Bike Wear Paclite socks

Rain. Mother Nature can be a bitch sometimes. It always seems to happen on a weekend morning. You plan to go for a ride in the morning, and you wake up to the pitter patter of the freakin' rain. Do you still get up, and tough it out for a wet ride, or curl back into bed under the warmth of the comforter, eventually wake up and bum around the house, sipping coffee and wasting time online looking at overpriced bike clothing. Um, so, where am I going with this? Oh yeah. If you decide to head out in the rain rather than bum around the house, chances are you have the gear needed to ride in the rain...especially if its wet and cold. Otherwise, you're really dedicated, perhaps a little insane, and really should find some other hobbies. So I digress yet again.  I think the worst part about riding in the rain is getting wet feet. It's not THAT big of deal when out for a road ride in the heat of summer, but it sucks to arrive at work with cold, dripping feet in the spring or fall. My solution has always been plastic bags:

 Plastic bag goes over sock.

 

Foot, with plastic bag, goes into shoe. Booties then go overtop.

The problem here, though, is that water can still get in through the top of the bag. One thing that does help, is a fender extender:

When water bottles become too grungy to drink out of, recycle and attach them to your fenders.

Enter the Gore Bike Wear Paclite socks. A waterproof/breathable sock, and completely seam sealed. The nice thing about these suckers are the height...almost calf high.

Check out those tall socks!

When combined with a bootie and somewhat water resistant tights*, water doesn't stand much of a chance.

 

Bootie goes over top of shoe.

 

Tights go over top of bootie.

*These tights have a wind resistant front panel, so in a rain storm, they don't do much good. But they keep water at bay for a little bit.

I finally had the chance to test out the Gore socks last Thursday. It was raining in the late afternoon, and by the time I left work, it was snowing. This made for some pretty wet conditions on the roads. The whole way, my feet stayed nice and dry. When I got home, my shoes were wet, even on the inside (due to spray working it's way up from the bottom), but my feet were as dry as a....um....I can't think of a witty comparison right now, but the point is, my feet were dry. I have to admit that these socks were a little pricey ($69 retail), but worth every penny. Gore bike wear is quality stuff, with a lot of thought put into the design of the product. You can find it at Bushtukah (shameless plug...actually, they should be paying ME to mention them, well I guess they do, in a way...I digress again). Another thing to keep in mind is that these socks are strictly a shell, so you need to layer with a thin sock underneath. If you like tight fitting bike shoes, layering these might be a problem. But, if there's room to spare in your shoes, and you find yourself itching to get out on a cold rainy day, or need to keep your feet dry when commuting, this accessory is a must.