The temperature was mild (11C) but very wet with a moderately strong wind (30kph) coming from the south. I was drenched by the time I arrived at work, no, scratch that, I was drenched by the time I left my street. Just when I turned onto the southerly portion of the commute, the rain started to come down very heavily so I was riding into the wind and the heavy rain. Fortunately, the temperature was mild so I didn't get cold.

I learned that my panniers are not waterproof and my clothes have wet patches on them (the clothes were in a plastic bag in the pannier but the bag probably wasn't closed very well which I thought wasn't going to be an issue). I think I'm going to look for a new pannier for next year. In having looked a bit this year, I discovered that many panniers are black, which, for riding (both in the blackness of early morning and in daytime where I would like a brighter colour), is not what I would like.

The worst part of riding in the rain, at least on my route these days, is that I have to cross a few areas in which there is construction resulting in gritty water coming up off my tires onto my back and into my shoes. At one section, there is about 20m (60ft) of road in which the asphalt has been lifted off the dirt underneath and by today, there were potholes in the dirt section and as I was coasting down the hill before it at about 45kph, I realized that it was not going to be a smooth ride across the potholes so I lifted myself up off my seat, got a solid grip on my handlebars, took the centre of the lane and prayed that I wouldn't fall in front of the car behind me.

For conditions like these, I wish that someone would invent Moses tires!! (Think about it)

Considering the conditions, I'm not too put out by the fact that it was the slowest time ever!!! LOL

Forecast for 4pm is partly sunny, 16C and dry. Yay!!