Hurricane Sandy vs. Lontra Vibram FiveFingers <br /><small>a.k.a. Let’s Go For A Rainy Day Bike Ride!</small>
Tim takes his Lontra FiveFingers out in the rain amidst the inclimate weather of Hurricane Sandy to do a water-test while exploring on a mountain bike ... and tricycle. A photo journey!
With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the Mid-Atlantic (The streets of Arlington, Virginia) earlier this week, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to splash around in some puddles and generally enjoy acting like a little kid on Monday afternoon. So I did what any self-respecting triathlete would do in high winds, pouring rain, and 40 degree temperatures—I suited up in my race wetsuit, swim goggles, aerohelmet and went for a bike ride in my Vibram FiveFinger Lontras. I convinced my friend Mark to join me and document some of the craziness (Did I mention I rode a tricycle at one point?).
Check out the photo journey after the jump!!
Getting ready to head out.
Realizing the neighbor kid left his tricycle out ...
... and the potential for awesomeness.
The photo op. worth getting cold and wet!
And with that we were off exploring.
Most roads and trail were clear but the wet leaves were a bit slippery on two wheels.
The mailman was even more excited to see us than we were to see him!
Lontras in action!
How did it go?
So how’d they do? I was surprisingly impressed at how well things held up. Even with a few full stops where I had to put my foot down in puddles several inches deep my feet were kept acceptably dry. When it comes to getting your feet wet in most models of VFFs, even the shallowest of puddles will seep through the toes. This is certainly not the case with the Lontras!
The neoprene liner of the Lontra doesn’t create an airtight seal between my ankle bone and the achilles tendon so I was expecting some water to be channeled down my legs and leak down into the heel. While this did happen to a small degree, I was most impressed with how warm my toes were throughout the whole 45 minute ordeal. While my fingers were chilled to the bone wearing inadequate gloves, my toes were nice and comfortable in the Lontras.
Now I’m looking forward to getting them wet and dirty on the running trails soon!
