Rainy Day Rides

It wasn't raining when I looked out the window, but the streets were wet. I took a few extra minutes to check the radar, which didn't look very good, and went down to the basement to pump up the tires on the rain bike. I was still hoping I'd miss the rain, but there was no way I was going to miss the wet roads, so I figured fenders were called for. By the time I headed out for the levee bike path I was running a few minutes late, but then again I wasn't really expecting anyone to be there. So I was a bit surprised to see a small group up there. We rolled out onto the wet road at a moderate pace, glancing occasionally up at the very busy sky, wondering just how far we'd get before the rain started. As was the case yesterday, and will probably be the case for a while, the police had the bike path blocked off under the Huey P. Long bridge because the bridge construction guys are now driving piles and stuff right around there. This meant we had to go down onto River Road where there's no shoulder. There are also big trucks, water-filled holes, and no shoulder at all. I think I'd rather take my chances with the pile-driver. Anyway, the first raindrops started out around Kenner so we decided to turn around at the parish line instead of doing the usual long ride. It was the right decision. It rained. Mike flatted around the pipes, but by then the rain had pretty much stopped.

Thanks to the rain and the soaking wet clothes, I started thinking about hot coffee, so I stopped at Zotz where I met the guy who owns the little bike shop down the street.

Now since we are currently without a car, I knew we'd have rain, right? At least it held off long enough for me to return my mother's car and ride over to the office on the little folding bike, which I had to stash in my office because I'd forgotten to bring my lock. That turned out to be a good thing because it rained pretty much all day. Right around 5 pm it looked like it had stopped and so I figured I'd better make a run for home. I didn't get one block before it started raining again. I stopped to put on my raincoat, at which point it went from a light drizzle to a tropical downpour. I got back home with soaked pants but a nice dry shirt. Better than soaked pants and a soaked shirt, I guess!