Doppler radar was clear this morning. No rain in sight. The streets were dry. Sure, I ignored the 80% chance of rain, but I thought I had my window of opportunity. I wasted some time getting ready, and a half hour later the streets were wet, but it wasn’t raining. Apparently I missed some stealth rain.
I rode anyway. I felt larger drops near Lyndale, so I pulled over and put on my rain pants and jacket. By the time I made it to Portland it was torrential. I pulled over and changed into my new waterproof socks under a little kiosk. I rode the trail, since the shoulder was like a river. A little after Cedar I resumed riding on the road, since it is a more direct route to the river. Leaves were clogging the storm drains, and water was higher than the curb in most intersections. I was getting seriously wet.
I took the Ford Bridge. Along the river I tried the new trail for the first time, since it was on higher ground than the bike lane. It was still very dark, and I it was difficult following the unfamiliar trail, since it was covered with leaves. They really did a nice job repaving it- not that I’ll ever use it again unless facing another deluge. Frequent lightening helped illuminate my ride. I stopped to call Lise to ask her to bring another pair of bike shoes to work. I don’t anticipate these will be dry by 4pm, although my system worked quite well last week. I set up a fan in the shower room to help dry everything out.
By the time I made it to Shepard Road, I was pondering the very concept of rain gear. I almost purchased some Helly-Hansen rain pants that truly were waterproof. They were non-breathable. Rather, I opted for the breathable pants- waterproof- after returning a water resistant pair that was quickly soaked in a light rain. These waterproof rain pants were quite wet as well. Of course water was running off my helmet- presumably down my jacket. While the waterproof socks didn’t really work, my feet were less squishy than when I wore wet wool socks.
I saw my white exotic bird friend again. I worry about what winter will bring, since it certainly is not an indigenous species. Riding along the river I was amazed at all the debris, like whole trees that were trapped by the barges. There was quite an assortment of waterfowl floating in the water, rather than on the barges. It truly was weather for ducks. After I crossed Warner Road, I lamented the fact that my one eared rabbit friend hadn’t been seen in weeks. Life is cheap when you are a rabbit.
Traffic approaching me on Burns was crazy- backed up all the way from White Bear Avenue to Highway 61. I’m guess people are using this as an alternate route, rather than using the freeway. White Bear Avenue was also jammed, and I witnessed a very strange car accident. A woman tried turning by cutting through a gap in gridlock traffic. She clipped the bumper of another vehicle stopped at the light. It made quite a sound, but the other woman- the innocent victim- simply drove off as the light changed. Both vehicles had dislocated bumpers and broken headlights after the mishap.
I finally made it to work. It took little extra time over a normal commute. I didn’t really need to shower, but I did anyway. I spent considerable time organizing my gear so it hopefully dries by evening. Even if it doesn’t, Lise is bringing reinforcements.
No comments:
Post a Comment