Life On Two Wheels

Along the river and toward the mountains a morning shadow shimmers across the road. The rays of the first light jet through the trees and across a figure gliding upon the road. His breath trails in short spurts, petrified as it hits the icy air. All is quiet except the slight sound of the athlete as he summons himself for yet another days work. Soon the rest of the world will bustle with life as well and the brief simplicity of cyclist and nature will disappear into the everyday struggle of life in full motion; the errands and intervals, the appointments and intersections, and the deadlines and finish lines OutPaceTheRace

Monday, March 06, 2006

In the midst of the rain- March 6, '06

In the midst of the rain- North Bend, WA
March 6, 2006

It’s brilliant when you can look out the window and see the rain coming down in sheets. The good ole’ Washington climate. It’s nice because you don’t have to worry about what it’s going to do tomorrow. If the weather man says “it’ll be sunny Monday, partly cloudy Tuesday, and windy and fairly sunny on Wednesday,” you know it’ll rain all day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I’ll never know why they pay people to report the weather here, they’re always wrong- but it doesn’t matter because everyone knows it’ll just rain anyway… But as a Washington native I can’t say I dislike the rain- actually I kind of flourish in it.
Last year I would commute to and from school- arriving early and leaving late. Because I was going to school I had to make a serious investment in a waterproof backpack ($121) so that all my stuff wouldn’t be soaked when I got to school. I’d come walking in and the bike shoes would be so wet that they’d squeak while I walked, people looked at me like I was crazy. They were probably thinking something like “why do you ride in the rain?” Well, why do you live here if you detest the rain? Life would be harsh living here and disliking the rain. It’s kind of a way of life. Anyway, I was gonna say that on my way back from school one day I ran into this dude who had just moved from California. He pulls up beside me and he’s like “I just moved from California, I should buy fenders pretty soon huh?”
“Yeah, you’re gonna want to get on that asap…” 10 minutes later I was riding in a downpour. Poor guy, he probably moved back to California that night.