Mother nature seems to be taking great pleasure in testing my determination to ride. Or, she is reacting to my indifference to most of what she’s dished out this spring. Granted, I didn’t ride home last Friday evening.
Everyone snickered when I showed up wet and tired last Friday morning – I thought they were laughing at my “getting caught” in the rain which of course I hadn’t been, I’d set out in the rain. But no, they were amused that I’d chosen to ride despite the afternoon forecast of 60km winds (rather specifically, 60km/h headwinds). They were right. I hadn’t seen that. After a full day of debate and watching the flags strain against their hoist, I called in the troops and caught a ride home. As one might expect, I have a mixed feelings about not riding – regret for things not done.
This morning was cold and damp with clear evidence of a recent rain. I opted for the Gore-Tex pants (that are not form-fitting) over the stretchy pants to protect me from the inevitable puddles and mud, my MEC heavy base layer and the cold weather riding shirt (which has been a staple this spring). Within 5 minutes of setting off, I knew I’d over-dressed. I was already feeling hot and sweaty and the area covered by my pack was absolutely overheating. A smarter man might have done something about it – I unzipped my jacket vents and collar a little but that did little to relieve the heat. I cycled on listening to the steady swit-swit-swit-swit-swit-swit of my puffy pant-legs.
The return trip was characterized by the presence not of a drizzle, nor of a light rain, but by a genuine spring rain that has the canal flowing over the path in places. I learned that my Gore-Tex pants are in fact not water-proof, that the water repellency of my cycling jacket was no more and that no amount of riding in traffic in the rain is a pleasant event. Within the first kilometer my feet were both sloshing around in my fancy shoes, there was a steady stream of water coming down the back of my right leg and the headwind was driving the rain into everything else.
By the time I arrived at home, I’d got the hint – I am not riding in this weather tomorrow. I’ll probably feel differently about it after the fact but unless and until I have some better cycling rain gear, I’m going to forego the full rain rides. On the upside, I didn’t have a lot of competition for the paths – they were pretty vacant with only a couple of miserable faces plodding along.
The one thing that wasn’t wet and cold was my head. This is thanks entirely to the wisdom and foresight of my mother-in-law (who posts comments that are entirely too kind and make me feel all warm and fuzzy). Marion gave me a rain cap for my helmet this Christmas. At first I didn’t think I’d use it as I’d found rain a nice excuse not to ride. Then I decided it wouldn’t fit my mountain-bike styled helmet with it’s big beak protruding out the front. Then I actually tried it while riding in last Thursday’s light rain and found it remarkably effective. This afternoon it proved to be worth much more than it’s weight in gold as I’m certain I’d have been utterly miserable (as opposed to simply beaten up). This piece is a permanent part of the kit.
I broke the 500km mark on this morning’s commute (just) tallying up 501.7km. This left me in the lead for the 2nd day in a row with Adam close behind. He broke the 500km mark on his ride home, in the same miserable rain, leaving Alberto to ponder how to make up a 130km deficit without riding in the rain. You can’t (unless one guy goes down with a bum knee and the other gets shipped out of town and can’t ride). Enjoy the rain 