Last week, while sitting awkwardly in a warm puddle during a meeting in Oxford, I realised I had to do something about it.

After 15 years’ prevarication, the time really had come to get some serious waterproof riding gear.

I’d misjudged the clouds, a mistake increasingly easily made in this age of schizophrenic weather.

At the back of the house the sun was shining. In the short time it takes to walk around the side of the house with the bike, an apocalyptic rain cloud had appeared from nowhere and malingered overhead.

I was running late and it’s only a three-minute ride down to Charlbury railway station, so I jumped on and pedalled.

One minute into the journey, the sky turned black and the air transformed into a power shower at volume 11.

For the next two minutes, I pedalled as if along the bottom of a swimming pool. By the time I got to the station, my jeans were like Spandex – even my underpants were wet.

The misconception amongst non-cyclists is that on a rainy day, cyclists get wet. In fact, rain stops and starts a lot more often than you’d think. So even during a week of flash downpours, there’s usually a 20-minute window when the rain abates, allowing you to get about in the relative dry.

It doesn’t always pan out that way, of course, which is why everyone’s got a breathable waterproof jacket. But a simple waterproof isn’t going to get you very far these days. So what else should I be carrying in my pannier?

I asked around and got some interesting suggestions for surviving cycling underwater.

The least practical but perhaps the most honest was “go naked”, meaning wear as little as possible, take a towel and a change of clothes in a waterproof pannier.

Years ago, I had some thick plastic waterproof trousers which were useless because of the non-breathing boil-in-the-bag effect on your legs. These days, lightweight alternatives do work, they say, even if they aren’t Gore-tex.

An old-fashioned cape came highly recommended, and I can see that these would be quite good, allowing air to circulate and even protecting your rucksack. A very Oxford look.

I’d never heard of a skull-cap to go under your cycle helmet, but several swear by these. Neoprene overshoes let water in, but you can get Gore-tex overshoes. Always make sure leggings go over the top of overshoes, otherwise rain is channelled into your shoes.

Someone who always wears smart clothes and never gets wet, recommends waterproof gaiters with an elasticated fastening around the calf for easy removal at work. One guy even says Gore-tex socks are good but cautions, the “brain has trouble reconciling dry toes with the wet squelchy feeling inside the shoes!”.

Whatever you’re riding in this week, good luck with keeping dry.