Have you ever done something after you haven't done it for a while? Something that you really used to enjoy? You avoid doing it, don't feel the desire for it. The passion's gone...but then you do that thing again, and while you're fully caught up in the joy of that thing, all you can think is, "I'd forgotten!" And you're amazed, because how could you ever forget joy like this?
This occasionally happens to me when I ride. It used to happen every year back in Montreal when I would get out for my first night ride after the thaw - the weather still crisp and the streets damp, the smell of fresh earth permeating the air as I pedalled along the river at speeds as high as I could manage on my road bike. Now, I get that feeling in the rain.
It had been a long time - maybe even two years - since our passion for riding led us out in the driving rain. This morning we had decided to ride, rain or shine. It's rainy season, so if we didn't ride anyway, we'd only be riding once a week if we were lucky. So out we went to brave the elements. Not long after we got out of the city and into the hills, pedalling at a leisurely pace, I remembered that I'd forgotten; forgotten how sublime everything could become when stifled by the rain, how the trees were greener, the streets quieter - so quiet that you can, briefly, imagine that you alone exist here. Nobody goes out in the rain at 6 a.m., you see, except, apparently, a couple of crazy bikers.
3 comments:
For me it's walking in the fog at late at night. It doesn't seem like a great idea but it is one of my all time favorite places to be alone.
That's cool. I've ridden in a light rain several times in the past and did not like it so much. Maybe that is because in Southern California the rainy season is in the winter and it can be damn cold. While in Japan the rainy season is during the warmer months. maybe I would like it then.
Of course it depends on the rain. I love running in the rain but fear cycling in the rain (especially after a hot spell and the pavement is slick). I can see how being an off road rider how riding in the rain could be a lot more enjoyable.
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