Just riding in the rain

Something odd happened this past Friday, the 13 of June 2014.  I didn't have anything to do.  No emails to read, no proposals to make.  There was no pressing business that demanded my attention.  No urgent phone calls or errands or "things that must be done right now because the fate of the free world hangs in the balance!!!"

Sue, my long suffering and Raison d'être, was out running around with her girlfriends doing what ever a group of middle aged women do (probably bitching about their middle aged men).  So I was alone...I wanted to go for a ride.  Actually let me rephrase that..."I WANTED TO GO FOR A RIDE!".  

I've been banged up over the last few months and was actually under strict orders from the powers that be not to ride for several of those months.  When I was released recently I was happy about it...but I really didn't feel the "want" to go for a ride.

Since then I've ridden to work.  I've run to the movies or out to the store.  I've slowly gotten used to riding again.  I've felt a spark of the joy I used to have to on the bike at times, leaning into a corner or just being out on the road somewhere where the view was worth remarking on.  I've not really felt the need to go riding just to ride.

There was only one problem.  It was raining.

Hard.

I did consider putting on my rain gear.  Heading out into the wilds of West Central Florida "just for an hour or so."  In the end the rational side of my brain won the argument.  It's dangerous in the rain to begin with, even more so when there are lighting storms in the area.  I'm ugly but I'm not stupid.

So no riding on a Friday for me.  Saturday was another story.

Saturday started out beautifully, not a cloud in the sky and I was scheduled to work a 12 hour day.  I decided to ride in, and although there was a chance of rain on the way home it was only in the 30% range and I would most likely miss it.   The parking lot was wet at 10:30 PM when I left work and I was warned that the roads were slick in spots but it was not raining.

I took it easy on the way home, riding a little slower than I would normally and keeping an extra second or two between me and the cars surrounding me.  I slipped on my rain gear early just in case I needed it...I didn't till about 10 miles from my home when I entered a rain curtain.  It caught me off guard as it literally came of of no where and without warning...it soaked me quickly and thoroughly...but the rain gear did it's job.  I was dry.

I may have not had the chance to go out for a ride...and I think that I needed to prove something to myself.  That I could handle the bike in less than ideal conditions, which I was able to do a bit of on Saturday.  Even though I was home about 15 minutes after I got caught out in it.  Not much of a test, but another little confidence builder.

Finally starting today I will be in Jacksonville, FL for an entire week, including the weekend (I will be back next Thursday), which means no riding at all for me while I'm gone.  The company pays for me to take a rental car to keep liability down.  I hope to get out some more than I did last time and am actually taking a camera with me this time.

Hopefully it will be a little mini-vacation for me.  God knows I need one.  I may however, rent a scooter while I'm up there because I have to share the company vehicle with someone else.   We will just have to wait and see.