A game of hide & seek

...with the weather wizard!

The weather wizard brought rain this weekend, and there was no hiding from the water.

I chose not to ride to work on Friday because there was a forecast for severe thunderstorms. As it turns out I could have ridden and I probably would have made it home before the storm - but sometimes it's better to avoid the chance of getting caught in a downpour. And the rain that started just after I arrived home Friday evening was the kind that created zero visibility; I was happy not to be caught on my bike in that one!

The forecast Saturday called for rain, but not until after noon. Well, the weather wizard wasn't playing fair, because it started sprinkling early in the morning just as my bike & I rolled two miles from home. Hmmm... sprinkles, I can ride in these. Uh oh. It's turned to light rain. I turned toward home, and as I got closer the rain got lighter. Oh, look, it's stopped! I decided to keep riding; the roads were barely wet, and while the sky was dark gray (gray enough for me to be using clear lenses in my sunglasses) the water had disappeared. I headed back out, still hoping for a decent ride. Riding, rolling along, and the weather wizard decided to give me the gift of light but steady rain. I thought about ignoring it, but I'm really not fond of riding in a downpour. Home again - with just 13 miles under my wheels - and as soon as I pulled into the garage the skies opened up. Good timing, I guess. I really wanted to do a longer ride, but I did get home before the bike was trashed. (Yes, riding in the rain really trashes the bike. All of the grit on the road kicks up and just sticks!)

Sunday... another day, another puzzle. I woke up at 6AM to light rain. Luckily I headed downstairs right away to retrieve the newspaper. The delivery person hadn't bothered to even try to drop it close to my front door (where it would be somewhat sheltered by an overhang). Instead, I found it in the road. Just as I opened my front door, water started pouring from the sky once more. It was raining hard enough that I grabbed an umbrella for my short dash for the paper. OK, I guess an early morning ride isn't going to happen today either!

Ah, noon rolled around, and since the weather wizard stopped the rain by mid-morning, the roads were dry. Time to head out... The weather wizard was quite finished yet; I was just a mile from home when it started sprinkling again. I kept riding, and the sprinkles kept coming too. It finally dried up after about 20 minutes, and I managed a decent afternoon ride.

I wonder, is it too much to hope that the upcoming week includes a few dry weekdays and a dry weekend too?

Friday evening... just as I was thinking of going for a quick ride or a walk, a downpour started. It was so amazing that I ran to get a camera to see if I could capture the rain. This doesn't really do it justice, but it's the best that I could do. From dry pavements, to rivers flowing down the sidewalk and huge raindrops splashing in newly formed lakes!

Sunday afternoon... clouds were still filling the skies, but it was dry. And I was lucky enough to catch these two bugs on the beginning (or end) of a flower.

...and a beautiful blossom that survived the storm.