A lot of people ask me this:
Why do you bike in the rain?
I answer in this way:
When something helps you enjoy life deeply, when it gives you time to work through the matters that would otherwise overwhelm, and when that activity makes coming back home on a rainy day about the most enjoyable feeling you can imagine...how could you not bike in the rain, at least some of the time? Why limit one's self to the sunny or dry days?
Get some decent rain gear. Get a bike with fenders. Take your time. Try something new. Step out of your car and taste the world. It isn't that hard or uncomfortable--really.
As a utility cyclist (who also drives a car, pays taxes, &c.), I have arrived at the point where having to stay off my bike for more than a few days makes me very downcast--rain or shine. I simply enjoy it that much.
Never in my life have I actually looked forward to exercise. But I do look forward to the next journey on my bike. Perhaps this is because cycling isn't merely exercise, but a way of finding delight in the midst of the world's requirements, simply, in the familiar surroundings of one's own home town.
That's why I ride...in the rain, in the sun, or in between.
Try it. You might learn to like it, too.
Who knows...we may meet up some time in the rain, get a cup of coffee or tea, and talk it all over.
RE: "Never in my life have I actually looked forward to exercise. But I do look forward to the next journey on my bike. Perhaps this is because cycling isn't merely exercise, but a way of finding delight in the midst of the world's requirements, simply, in the familiar surroundings of one's own home."
ReplyDeleteIndeed! And this is one of the great mysteries: Why do people want to exercise in a concrete box with mirrors and pay membership fees when they can incorporate wholesome and moderate exercise into their daily routine and pay less in gas and car maintenance?
Anyway, glad you're enjoying the wet side of fall!