I'm booked in for the Wiggle South Downs 100 miler next Sunday. The forecast looks like heavy rain / 16 mph wind all day.

Any ideas on how to stay dry and aerodynamic over 6 hours? I did 2 hours in the rain yesterday and nothing worked.

I have one of these and it's briliant if it's tipping down and cold: Gore Phantom 2

I have size small but I'm not that small (40" chest).

That looks interesting.
How does it cope with temperature?
Are you able to stay cool enough with it zipped up?

Gore stuff is good, how well it copes with temperature depends largely to how much you sweat. The key thing is not to over dress under waterproofs or you will overheat, get wet then chill

If you are doing a 100 miler can I suggest you take a fresh pair of clean dry socks in a ziplock bag. The pleasure and boost to moral of having dry feet again at 50 miles is not something to be underestimated.

My best advice on how to keep dry when cycling in the rain, is don't

Agree that has been my problem in years of cycling. No matter what I have spent I am still soaking after 1 hr in the rain. Wearing woollen base layers has helped lately in at least keeping me warm and wet rather than cold and wet and miserable. Spend your money on gloves and overshoes as a priority.

I wouldn't wear it in the summer but for autumn & winter it's fine as you can always take the sleeves off if you're too hot, although I rarely do. When it's marginal I just have my bib shorts underneath but for full winter -10 mode I wear a couple of base layers with it.

Bockers - you've hit the nail on the head. I have a waterproof jacket, but it is like being in a polythene bag.

Reviews on the Gore look very promising.

Could possibly stash some dastardly cheating devices under a poncho that big.

Absolutely and under no circumstances try to stay dry. Utterly and completely pointless!!! The trick is to stay warm. I swear by the Assos 851 Airjack - similar to the Phantom but better (I have 1 Phantom and 2 Airjacks). They both work on the principle of keeping the wind out. Merino base layers are great too. I don't know what the temp is going to be like. I also swear by Assos rain gloves (neoprene) - keep your hands warm rather than dry - though they might be a bit much if it's dry after all. Shorts: just apply plenty of chammy cream - then apply some more. Fitting an Ass Saver if you don't have a mudguard might be a cheap and good idea to avoid constantly shifting water down there!
Finally, some light overshoes to keep your feet warm combined with some merino socks would do the trick.
Finally, a good dose of MTFU. When I did London 2 Cambridge Moonriders, the forecast was completely wrong and on the train down there, the heavens opened. Had completely the wrong gear for a 4 hour night ride in the pi55ing rain - consequently finished nearly an hour quicker than the next person

Thanks for the advice.

Temp will be low of 12, high of 16 so mildish.

I got an hour in the rain to try a few more things tonight.

Gloves are sorted now - Specialised sub zero outers. Quite dry and really comfortable with the fingers together, only problem is water running down my arm into the glove.

Overshoes seem to be soaking up water at the moment which will make them heavy. I might try a waterproof treatment on them. They're meant to be neoprene but have been in the washing machine a fair bit.

There's more rain on Weds and Fri to try to perfect the setup.

MRS - was it trying to stay warm that got you there quicker or were your clothes more aero?

It would be nice to think that being more aero would make me 52 minutes faster on a time of 3h42m but I think (realistically) that I'm pretty used to riding in those conditions and I just got on with it.

Winter gloves will be your enemy in those temps I think. They'll just get waterlogged whatever you do. Personally I'd be wearing maybe a long-sleeved jersey and a gilet, mitts and shorts. I do run pretty warm though. They are probably pretty similar conditions to that night ride (early May). I was wearing a long sleeved jersey and a reflective tabard thing. I wore light full-fingered gloves, shorts and no overshoes. I was plenty warm enough riding though got chillier when I stopped so carried a Montane Featherlite jacket for then.

That is quite a difference, and probably a good choice not to hang around and get cold staying with the others.

Thanks also for the info. I've been looking round at various tops. Many that look great online are nothing like what you expect when you get in the shop - just a thin nylon sheet usually.

I'm also trying a wax coating on the overshoes etc. to get them waterproof again.

It will be pointless to try to get your shoes waterproof as the water just runs down your legs (worse still if you don't have mudguards). Some overshoes will at least keep your feet warm. Really goes back to the same advice - forget dry, stay warm.

I think the wax is designed to make the water bead up and fall off the overshoes, but I've got an order in for some Merino socks, so will try no overshoes / Merino in Friday's deluge and see how it goes.

Thanks very much for the above advice.

The Merino wool was amazing - the socks were wet but my feet felt dry! And when I wrung them out at the end the water in them was warm.

The "get wet, stay warm" advice was good too.
Being in a regular top was a massive advantage for both heat and wind resistance. I had a home bodged gilet thing in the saddle bag but with 16 degrees ambient it wasn't necessary.