Saturday was a total washout: It pretty much rained the entire day.
Sunday's forecast was for rain in the afternoon.
I thought I would try to get out for a quick ride before. But as usual I
procrastinated through the morning. When I finally did get on the road there
was some hope - a few light patches in the cloud cover.
I head south. Given all of the recent rain I'm not doing mb trails. But in
that there is opportunity. I've come to discover some pleasant country and
county roads that-a-way.
As I start out I notice the odd rain drop hitting me. I silently wish I'd
gotten started earlier. I decide to switch to the other side of the Hanlon
via a tunnel for people and a steam. On the far side I follow a MUP
sheltered amongst the trees to it's end.
Then turning west I am retracing the road where I'd seen that poor
decomposing creature on Thursday night. I am curious to see it in daylight
for some morbid reason.
In the light of day I realize that it is not a cat but a raccoon - the
first I've ever seen as road kill. The maggots are gone though - either done
with that part of the life cycle or burrowing deeper. Maybe they don't like
rain...
As I continue on down the road the rain gradually intensifies. The sky
never opens up in a downpour but the rain slowly and steadily increases.
Before long I am soaked through to the skin. But it is actually
enjoyable.The recent rains haven't really broken the humidity much so it is
a very warm rain - almost like a bath.
I examine the landscape. Last time I'd ridden down this road had been in
the dark of night. It's interesting to seen the difference in perception -
like night and day. 🙂
At an unpaved side road name 'Pioneer' I head north again. Razor straight
with just enough slopes to make it enjoyable I slice a rain that is turning
into an out and out downpour. This is fun!
The side road ends in a T eventually. I turn back east on paved road.
Nearing the Hanlon again I decide to take another street I haven't
frequented - a winding suburban street cheerfully named Woodland Glen. It
does indeed feature an expanse of greenspace.
I turn up and down a few suburban cul de sacs imagining what people would
think upon seeing me out for a pleasant Sunday ride in the middle of a
downpour.
The suburbanoid street eventually ends and I turn east again to head home.
As I get closer the rains slackens off at the same leisurely pace which it
had built up.
Not a long ride, 70 minutes and 25 km but somehow immensely enjoyable. At
home, soaked to the bone, I figure I can forgo a shower.
--
'our present computers are less complex than the brain of an earthworm,
a species not noted for its intellectual powers.' -steven hawking