Riding in the rain

I think that most of us living on the north hemisphere are willing to get some of the summer goods. The other day I rode my bike under a heavy rain just for fun. I know this could sound weird as it is probably, but rinding under a pouring rain, something that certainly excuses anyone for not riding the bike, made me anxious for some kilometres.

I have ridden under the rain in many different occassions as you can never expect what's to come once you go out and most certainly, once you leave your city to go on a long trip -that means a few days ride- you can never predict the good or bad weather. But this time I was at home with my pyjama on as it was my day off duty. I had the heater on and as I surfed on the internet I could hear a very heavy rain beating my roof. I decided to have a look at my bike so I put some clothes on -I don't like working on the bike on pyjama!- and I checked tyre pressure, oil and all that shit and I never kept listening to that sound. Then, the isolated road called me. You have to put your best equipment on, of course, and even though you got it it's not for sure that you are not going to get wet! I didn´t except for my feet as my boots have a zipper that let the water come in. The good news, I didn't know that. I thought those boots were available for all weather conditions but they're not. However they're great for riding in other conditions, I've even worn them while riding in snowy roads and they work real good. But heavy rain seems to be another issue for them. I learnt that.

While riding under a pouring rain you better not squeeze your brakes too much as you can drift down to the floor in an unexpected move from your bike. Everything's different, and in roads with a bad tarmack it gets even more tricky. I didn't fall down but I could have, there was a moment in which I thought I was losing control completely but I could handle the bike on the last moment. For me that was a good training as even though I've been like that many times before, it was a couple of years since I hadn't ridden on such a heavy rain, and I don't want a big storm to catch me unaware. If we're bikers, we're ready for everything!