Rainy Commute

I woke up yesterday morning a little before 9am, looked out the window next to my bed, and was happy that the weather looked nice.  A crisp little chill in the air.  Thirty minutes later, the rain started pouring down and the wind picked up.  Just great.  The committed bike commuter I am, I pulled the waterproof clothing out of my closet and got ready to head to work.

There’s something empowering about being able to move yourself from one place to another regardless of weather conditions.  Some drivers probably look at me through their windshield wipers and wonder why on earth anyone would be riding their bike to work on such a terrible day.  I don’t have anything to prove though; I just like taking physical responsibility for my commute, and I’ll always get a little bit of joy from dodging the big puddles and splashing through the small ones.

Fall is here in Central Texas.  Besides being too wet to climb, I’m loving the change in weather.  It’s probably time to start doing big miles on the road bike again, reacquainting myself with the roads out to Johnson City, Elgin and Lockhart.  I want to find some new dirt roads and some new views.

I’ve been having a lot of old memories lately, especially as old friends keep reappearing in my life as they have been these past few days.  And a lot of my favorite moments take me back to the same roads, out of sight of the Austin skyline and sometimes thousands of miles away from the city.  Cold and rainy dirt roads in the remote parts of British Columbia.  Cold and rainy roads from the time I rode to Corpus Christi from here.  The mid-December ride way early in my cycling career where we were dodging ice falling from the streetlights.  So many good moments on the bicycle.

I’m happy with the way I’ve ended up.