It was bucketting with rain this morning - (Sorry Chris L, I don't mean to make you jealous.) - and so I had a rather soggy ride to work.

As I was pedalling through the rain I passed a petrol station. There was a very overweight guy heading back to his car, pulling out his cigarette getting ready to light up.

He looked at me - I looked at him.

He was probably thinking, "Why would you want to be out there on one of those things getting soaking wet?".

I was thinking, "Why would you want to let yourself go like that and then suck on something that will kill you?".

There was only metres between us but we were worlds apart.

Yes.

The amazing thing is, though you are worlds apart, there is so little distance between you.

Media Creations, I know your spirit: I believe the next person you meet in this condition will have little defense against the power of your positivity.

He's smoking at a petrol station?! You two may end up worlds apart in more ways than one, if he sets off an explosion...

That gave me a nice little chuckle


In all honesty, I have never understood this fear of the rain that so many people seem to have. I mean, it's just water. Believe it or not, most of the vital organs in the human body float in water. Maybe we should all remove them immediately.

OK, Chris. You first!

Not me, buddy, I'm not the one who thinks rain or water in general is a bad thing.

You would have enjoyed the ride here this morning Chris.

The rain was so heavy that the roadsides were beginning to flood. I started to feel like I was cycling through a river.

I don't like the initial feeling of getting wet (which took about 30 seconds this morning) but once I'm soaked I just enjoy the ride.

The only thing I don't like is having to put wet clothes back on at the end of the day to head home. Thankfully I have a very breezy air conditioning plant room where I can get everything dry just in time to ride home and get soaked all over again.

Yeah, I've ridden through floods (18 months ago - the last decent rain we had over here). OF course, the rain we get in Queensland is always pretty warm, so I don't have the problems that others on this board have had.

In Atlanta, they're predicting "60% chance of thundershowers."

After the heat we've had, I am looking forward to riding home in "buckets" of rain!

LittleBigMan, send some to Greenville. My house is in some kind of Bermuda Weather Triangle.

It's bizarre to think that 2 and a half years ago I was that guy. In that time I have quit smoking gained AND lost 50 lbs and am slowly getting back into shape. What was I thinking? It doesn't make any sense to me now but while I was living that lifestyle it seemed perfectly normal to me!

And to think, they're only predicting 10-30% chance of rain at all here between now and the end of September

I know the feeling of being so distant from those types of folks. The heavy-weight person , smoking his ciggies in his SUV or pick-em-up-truck as he stops for his burger and fries - so smug in his ignorance of what life could be. Too bad for him/her, good for me. Don't know what they are missing.

As far as rain is concerned...
I've heard it said that the first few minutes of riding in the rain is the worst part. After that you are so soaked, it doesn't even matter. Hey, just enjoy it as part of life.

It's only water - it doesn't burn you, stain your skin, ruin your hair (permanently), make you go blind, turn you into a frog or anything except get you temporarily wet. I actually don't mind riding in the rain if I know I have a dry place eventually to warm and dry myself. Sometimes it makes me feel like a 12 year old again, remembering those days of riding through puddles just for the heck of it.

Rain seems sort of...well, "cleansing."

Then when I get home, I realize it was only a feeling. I'm about as filthy a beast as they come!

My husband and I got caught in a thunderstorm Saturday on the ridge line of the trail we were riding. I didn't mind getting wet, but I had a hard time working the brakes because my hands were so wet. Then there was the slippery trail. . . Once I got all the mud washed off at home, my husband wanted to play connect the bruises on my legs.

You don't live in a large city do you?

Sometimes when I see people sitting and smoking cigarettes outside on a nice sunny day, when I pass by on my bike, I think " you're wasting a nice sunny day! You could be out on a bike like me!" Of course, I used to be like that too, but I was never a big fat slob. And it's been a long long time since I sat outside and smoked cigarettes on a nice sunny day. Yep, I'd much rather be on my bike. Or even at the gym!

As a matter of fact I do live in a suburb of a large midwestern US city, but do most of my riding in the outlying countryside unless I'm commuting to work. I doubt you'll ever get exposed enough to "acid rain" to cause you any damage. You're not a tree that just stays in one place for years

Maybe I should be careful what I say. After reading the posts on weight loss I don't want to insult anyone, but I just got back from Australia. I saw overweight people there, but nowhere did I see the grotesquely obese that we have here in America. Unfortunately, if they keep eating at McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut they'll wind up like us!

You mean you came all the way to Australia and you didn't drop in to say hello? What kind of friend are you?

I certainly hope that we can learn the lesson early enough to stop the 'growth' of our nation.

We would have loved ot visit with you but we only made it as far as Melbourne. We did rent bikes and ride the trails in Canberra. What a neat way to visit a city!

We also drove the Great Ocean Highway, saw the fairy penquins, hiked in Wilson's Promentory, saw wombats, wallabies, seals, lots of birds but never saw a Koala. We looked and looked but couldn't find one even in areas where we were told they are always seen.

Now I'm trying to acclimate to the heat, humidity and poor air quality of the Ohio Valley. After 3 weeks of cool temperatures and clean air (I could breathe there) I'm back with stuffy sinuses and it sure is hard to get back on the bike.

Next time we come we'll head toward Perth.

BTW, Australian winters are awesome!

I look forward to your next visit. There's at least 5 forum members in Perth. We'll make you very welcome.

Thanks, Mediacreations. We'll be sure to let you know when we are coming back.
Kathi