Interesting ride in to and from work today.

As I’m approaching the building (0.25 miles away) there’s a car that won’t pass, won’t pass – I wave them around, still stay behind me about two car lengths. No honking, I’m doing about 15-18 MPH but it’s a 30 MPH zone. I pull off to the parking entrance, car stays with me, almost pulls alongside. I’m just ignoring them at this point. I pull up to the door – yup, here comes the same car. I’m heading toward the stairs when the driver says, “Man, you were flying!” I couldn’t see in the car clearly, but it looked like a co-worker, so I’m about to let loose some smartass comment (we’re a close-knit bunch). I bit it back JUST in time when I noticed that this was a stranger. I walked over and we had a nice chat about bicycle commuting. He’s interested in doing it himself and had lots of questions. He said that he always looked out for cyclists and had tremendous respect for those who ride on the road. Made my day!

Had to stop at the dentist on the way home to have a filling repaired. There was a long wait, so when I left, the storm that had been forecast earlier was arriving. I headed on out and got a couple miles into it when the lightning started. Pulled into an elementary school and waited out the lightning for 20 minutes or so. Got back on the road in moderate to heavy rain – felt great!

Riding along on the wide shoulder, cars whizzing past. I get honked. I’m thinking “Yeah, whatever,” when I recognize the car of some close friends of mine. They pull over and offer me a ride, and are aghast when I tell them that I actually enjoy riding in the rain. They made me promise to call them when I got home. If they didn’t think I was certifiably insane before, I’m sure they do now!

Fun times.