As much as I might try to avoid the downpours, sometimes there’s no way to bike between the drops. Sometimes the boogie man of weather catches you and it’s going to be a long and wet road home. Today I was caught in a colossal drencher and despite the rain gear, the hats, the ear muffs, the multiple layers and the boots I felt like this:

This is my dog Max. Pretty much sums up my feelings about my ride today.

As the ride went on, I came to a full stop at every stop sign. Yes, we should always do that, however, I do have times when I do execute more of a slow roll which checking on traffic. However, today I was extra careful because you just don’t know what traffic will be like. Plus it’s Friday evening and rush hour time. At one of the stops I waited through a light change cycle because I was fumbling with my gloves and trying to exchange my wet gloves for a dry pair in my bag. Yes, I have two, sometime three pairs in my bag. Some days the rains are such a challenge it would be nice to have a wardrobe change at the halfway home mark. Maybe even a dryer.

At two places on my route drivers are always aggressive and testy with nondrivers. It doesn’t matter if they are walkers or cyclists. I do avoid this intersection, but on this particular occasion I stayed on the main route. I rolled up the the stop sign. Came to a complete stop. Put my foot down and watched the traffic. I saw it was my turn and made my move into the center to cross the busy four way stop and of course and car to my right decides I’m too slow. I stayed the course and looked at the driver with a the saddest, most pathetic face I could muster. It was the face that just received bad news. I looked like I was crying. I sent stop rays through my eyeballs and willed her to a complete stop and begged with my whole body and mind that she roll down her window and apologize for her wreckless ways.

Guess what? She did!

“Sorry…” I hear her exclaim.

Such tactics as this rarely work. Usually I’m too agitated and I flip off the driver with my lobster gloved hand, but today the rain and the cold and the time of day wore me down. My hands were cold and I couldn’t even feel the pinky on my left hand. My core felt like refridgerator door not a furnace. My bike was dripping from the handlebars to the fenders and I must have looked pretty sad. I could be wrong, but I think for a moment traffic and dare I say, time stopped and everyone seemed to feel like the biker deserved a break.

Somedays we do too.

Be safe out there!

Bike Goddess