After the killer ride last weekend into the hills (nay, mountains) of Northern Sydney, I stuck to the flat bits of the west today. Unfortunately, there was this thing called "weather" heading my way, and I rode smack into the equivalent of that red blob in the middle of this rain radar picture. Without any wet weather gear of course, or any preparation such as sticking my wallet and phone in a plastic bag before setting out. You know that it is raining hard when the raindrops hit the ground, then rebound up enough to whack you in the face. It's always a fun experience when the rain hits your underside as hard as it hits the topside.
I didn't care a bit, since it was quite warm and pleasant, and the traffic was light. The only thing that bugged me was the salt running out of my helmet liner. Over time, I have sweated enough into the helmet liner to turn it into a salt lick. If I ever stop somewhere in the country, I am going to have cows licking my head before I can say "moo". The problem is that when it really pours down, the rain gets into the helmet liner, where it turns into brine, and that then runs into my eyes. I thought I had ridden into an Al Queda mustard gas attack there for a minute, it hurt that much. The salt water coming out of my helmet was much saltier than the sea, so it really stung. One moment, I was riding along with the odd rain drop whacking me in the eyes, and the next, I was standing on the side of the road trying to rub the salt out of my now red and thoroughly shut eyes. If there is one thing you need to do when on the road, it's keep your eyes open, and that was impossible.
When I got home, I walked into the shower and found that after 5 minutes, I was not as wet as when I walked in the door. That's how hard it had been raining.
1 comment:
It was bad up here in the BMountains too, the rain came in sideways. You're very motivated to go biking eh? Now the storm season is returning we should get one of those every few afternoons.
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