biking in the rain

On Friday, I was riding my bike home from work and felt like I had just not had enough riding yet, so I decided to hit the Lady Bird Lake trail. The sky was dark with gray clouds, and I felt a few small drops on reaching the trail and decided to ride in the opposite direction from the storm.

I headed west toward the MoPac bridge. Not a lot of people were out. Maybe it was because of the threatening skies, or maybe Friday evening just isn't a very popular time to be on the trail. Whatever.

I caught some great views of the downtown skyline just lighting up as the day began to end, with dark clouds behind the skyscrapers. Wonderful view!

I was on the south side of the lake and crossed the MoPac bridge. Somewhere east of the kayak rental place, I felt raindrops again. I wasn't feeling too happy about getting wet, and there was no place to take cover, except under trees, which wouldn't keep me dry for long.

So I kept riding and decided to just surrender to the rain. As I headed toward the Pfluger bridge, the fronts of my thighs got wet. My whole front side was damp.

I noticed the faces of those I met, running, walking, or on bikes. Mostly they were smiling, delighted--as I was by now--to be out in the rain.

Can't remember how many years it's been since I rode my bike in the rain. Maybe since I was 12? Anyway, it felt like a delicious thrill, a return to childhood, a joyful exemption from being an adult, to be pedaling and rained upon. How sweet it felt to be able to do that again.