Today was the first day since I bought my bike eight months ago that it has seriously rained. (I live in Southern California.) My brakes are reduced to literally about 5% of capacity. They were so useless on my ride to work this morning that I gave up and walked most of the way.

Is there a clever solution I’m not thinking of? Can I buy more rubbery brake pads that work better than the ones I have now? Is this even normal? Is there something horribly wrong with my brakes?

Topics: water, weather, bikes, bicycles, transportation, problem solving, Southern California, commuting, rain, friction, coefficient of friction, h2o, certain death, why is there water coming out of, i am still soaked, and cold, winter blows, i should be working, my hair looks like crap too