My Motivator

I mentioned when I started this blog that one of the reasons for doing so was to motivate myself to keep riding and not let this bicycle go the way of the gym membership. I had that in mind when I last posted that I was going to ride to work yesterday, rain or shine.

Well, my wife was watching the weather yesterday morning and told me it was going to rain. The first thing I thought was, “Crap, I am going to have to drive to work.” Then I thought, “Crap, I can’t do that. I said I would ride, rain or shine.”

I checked the radar on the internet and determined that the line of showers was heading my way but if I left soon, I might beat them. So I hurried up, got ready and was out the door by 6:40, for a 9:00 a.m. job. It worked. I beat the weather and still had time to stop at the grocery store and pick up something for lunch.

It looks like today I will be dodging the weather on the way home.

What’s a Little Rain…?

Last night when I checked the weather forecast online it called for scattered thunderstorms all day. This morning the forecast was much better.  It was as though the day shift at weather.com came in to work and found the night shift sleeping at the switch. The weather was nice this morning and the rain chances for the late afternoon ride home were for areas farther inland.

I rode to work in under 70 minutes, my best time yet and I was not even trying to hurry. Fortunately I remembered to bring a spare shirt with me, especially since it is still quite humid.

What I didn’t count on was getting sent home early due to lack of work. I started my return trip just after 11:00 a.m. After about a half hour it started to rain. I thought about adjusting my route to find a store to take shelter in but decided against. I could see the clouds ahead were darker and it was possible that if I stopped, I could be waiting a long time.

I decided to press on. At the moment, the rain actually was light and felt good. It got a little heavier along the way and then stopped unexpectedly. I decided to stop at my chiropractor’s office, which was almost on the way. I had a 5:30 appointment but I was hoping he could see me early, which he did.

From there it was just two miles to home. I made it about a mile before the rain started again. My main concern at that point was for my phone and iPod. I did not feel like stopping to put them in my bag. I also did not feel the need to break out my rain jacket. The rain was coming from my left and my phone was in my right pocket so that helped. It also helped that my iPod was clipped to the bottom of my shirt, which I was able to fold over a couple of times to help keep it dry.

The rain gradually increased in intensity until I got about 30 seconds from home, when it started coming down in buckets. I didn’t bother stopping at the sidewalk. I rode right up to the front door.

I must admit that except for my concern for my electronics, the rain really didn’t bother me much. I think next time I will carry a Ziploc bag in my pocket.