Oh man, I hear what you are saying. The alarm goes off every morning at 5:30 whether for work or riding. Sometimes I am tempted to just turn it off, roll over and pull SWMBO closer for a couple of more hours of sleep. I know, however, that if I get out and ride, I will have a great time and feel really good about myself.

That's what I told myself Sunday, so I hopped right up and went out to get the paper. The sky was overcast and it had rained all day Saturday. But, I thought, how many times have you not gone on a ride because it was overcast and rain was predicted then the sun came out and I missed a perfectly good ride.

So, I talked myself into getting ready and going to the ride. A good sized crowd had assembled at Cabo's Tacos. Many of them in shoes still wet from Saturday's ride. I had not ridden on Saturday morning, choosing to stay home and help SWMBO get ready for the guests that were coming over for paella and sangria Saturday night.

About five miles into the ride the rain started. I wasn't sure if it was really raining or if yesterday's rain was just dripping off the trees. We kept on going. It kept on raining. Not hard, mind you, but enough to soak my socks so that they became weighted like little flywheels that, once you got them started, kept my momentum up.

Then one of the newer riders got a flat. Her friend Beth decided to turn the flat into a class on changing a tire. We stood around watching Beth demonstrate her tire changing skills....in the rain. She's a doctor, though, and a pretty smart lady so I guess that was the thing to do. I deferred to her judgement.

About a mile further on, the new rider got another flat. We stood around again while her husband changed this flat this time....in the rain. Once the tire was repaired and pumped we turned onto St. Joe Road. The sky ahead looked ominous and we were heading right towards the black clouds coming in at us from the Gulf of Mexico.

The rain never got heavier, though, and, after the hot weather we have had, God's gracious rain felt good. Another right turn onto Tram Road found us on one of the great joys in my life: brand new asphalt. Noone in the group had fenders (mudguards, Nigel) so drafting would be uncomfortable given the roostertail flying up from each rider's rear wheel. We rode side by side on the lightly traveled road, spaced far enough apart to avoid the tire spray from the riders in front of us.

We only rode 21 miles at a very sedate pace and we got soaked, and we all agreed that it was a good day to have gotten out of bed.