Rainy daze

Today, central Ohioans woke up to the second day of rain in what is supposed to be nearly a week of continuous downpour. Throughout my post-adolescent life, I've grown to be so mentally affected by gray and rainy weather: I get irritable and lethargic, depressed and offensive. I trace this back to the days when Ryan and I would skateboard in the streets, sunup to sundown; when our only enemies were cops, cars, and inclement weather. In more recent years I've started mending my relationship with the periodic nimbus cloud. Above all other reasons, it brings the rain that helps my garden grow.

As you may know, I've fostered a new, fervent interest in wheeled transportation: this time, of the two-wheel variety. It's not that you can't bicycle in the rain, but the various metal parts are so sensitive to water. Also, as a bicycle commuter, a ride in the rain equals a soggy arrival to work. Cycling in a shower is actually pretty refreshing, maybe cathartic. It requires that you stretch your comfort limits and really embrace the weather that might otherwise make a modern suburbanite cringe as they look out of their insulated window panes, pent up in their isolated, climate-controlled domiciles. I will admit, I don't necessarily jump at the chance to commute to work in the rain, and in fact would prefer to not. But today I was forced to make a decision: bike in the rain, or drive? I knew at the moment the question was pressed on me, I needed to bike. The decision was an effort to prove to myself that I am not (or don't want to be) a fair-weather bicycle commuter. So, I packed my lunch, a thermos full of hot coffee, and some dry clothes into my backpack; donned my swim trunks and a rain jacket; slipped into my sandals; then took off to the bike path on my mountain bike--which is my all-weather tank. I'm not sure which made me more wet: the falling rain or the massive puddles I had to bike through, though I suspect it were the puddles. Anyways, I arrived at work like a wet dog, wiped down my bike, and changed into my dry clothes. Knowing that days like this will be few and (hopefully) far between, I'm happy now that I decided to ride--it was a great way to wake up. Also, I know I will be sitting behind a dry desk all day, staring at this computer...
Enjoy it before it's passed