Wednesday, June 4, 2008

So It's A Little Wet...

Last night as I was rushing home, it started to sprinkle. Then it stopped.

We got to the ride, and it looked a little "iffy", nothing bad though. It certainly wasn't supposed to rain. So what do you do in that situation? Well, you ride, silly! Only 4 of us were stupid enough to actually go out despite much consternation and teeth gnashing in the parking lot. The way I figure it, it rains. If you lived in Seattle and never rode in the rain, you'd never ride.

So off we went, and about 3 miles in it started to rain. Then it rained harder, and then it rained harder still. Oh, and then it stopped! And then it rained more, and harder yet. At some point we had a pow wow and decided to slow the ride down and leave a huge gap between riders. Good move. I didn't have brakes.

You forget what it's like to ride in the rain like that. How the asphalt heats the water on the road to the temperature of bath water... how the grit gets in your eyes, your teeth, your hair... How after awhile, the best fitting bike shorts become diapers that need to be changed... How your brakes are there for show and don't actually do anything until suddenly they do...

We got back in all smiles from the adventure just in time for the real lightning to hit. I was standing talking to Nature's Path Maria stretching my arms over my head when a huge bolt hit nearby, and all the hair stood up on my arms, and I could feel tingling all the way down them. That was time, exit stage left. The drive home was likewise full of fireworks as the van either got hit or the power line over the van... BOOM!

So what am I doing tonight? Cleaning da bike. Drying the shoes. Laughing about getting wet, and smiling that I have friends dumb enough to ride in the rain with me.

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