Before, After Or Between Storms?

 Have you ever quipped, “I’ll pedal between the raindrops?”

Some of us gave that response when asked whether we’ll ride in the rain.  I will, to a point:  I won’t set out if it’s cold and raining or if I can’t see more than a couple of bicycle lengths ahead of me because the rain is falling so hard or it’s getting blown sideways.

This week, I haven’t been pedaling between raindrops.  Since taking a ride to Point Lookout on Monday I have, however been riding between storms.  In four days, we’ve had three incidents of flooding rains. The first, on Tuesday, began with a combination of rain, sleet and snow that didn’t accumulate.

So when I rode Negrosa, my vintage Mercian Olympic, to Coney Island

I wasn’t sure of whether this was the end of a storm—or the calm before a storm or between storms.

Turns out, it was the latter:  We had two more inches (5cm) of rain last night.

Heat Or Rain?

 Another soupy morning.  Again, I went for an early ride.  Today, however, I wasn’t sure whether I was trying to beat the heat or a rainstorm.  Both were forecast for today.

When I pedaled along the Malcolm X Promenade, just past LaGuardia Airport, I would’ve bet on the rain, except that I don’t bet. Anyway, I kept on riding—out to Fort Totten.

My money (colloquially, of course) was still on rain.  I actually wouldn’t have minded it on such a hot day.

By the time I got home, clouds were parting and the sun was peeking through. The weather forecasters still talked about “possible” showers or thunderstorms for the rest of the day.

A Microclimate Under The Tracks?

When I was in Rome last summer, I learned that during the centuries when the Colosseum was all but abandoned, so many species of vegetation grew in it that Domenico Panaroli cataloged them. 

According to some writers and chroniclers, all of those herbs and other plants created micro-climates within the Colosseum's walls.  I don't find that so difficult to believe:  Different parts felt hotter or cooler, depending on the sun, shade and wind, during my visit there.

My commute this morning got met to thinking about the possibility of Colosseum "microclimates".  For one thing, the lane I ride to the Randall's Island Connector winds underneath the tracks on which Acela trains shuttle between New York and Boston.  Those tracks run on a viaduct supported by stone arches that would not look out of place in Rome, or the ancient parts of many other cities in the Old World.

But, more important, I think I rode into a microclimate:

The remanants of yesterday's storm dripped, and rays of sunlight flickered, through the tracks above.  And I pedaled through the "rainbow" you see in the photo.  I didn't see another rainbow anywhere else, nor did any rain fall.  And the sky grew brighter as I neared the college.

Even Max Couldn't Bear To Look At Me!

Yesterday, the weather forecast said today the skies would be "partly cloudy-to-sunny" and whatever chance we'd have for rain would come late tonight or in the early hours of tomorrow morning.  When I woke up this morning, the sky looked heavier and grayer than I expected it to be.  I turned on the radio.  Sure enough, the forecast had changed to "occasional rain and drizzle."

So I figured I could get out before one of the occasions and, if I got caught in one, I could ride or wait it out.  Although a fairly cool day for this time of year, I wouldn't have minded getting caught in a shower, especially a light one.

Including my "beater" (the Schwinn LeTour), I have three bikes with fenders.  Reason and logic would have dictated taking one of them.  But, I have one of those lives in which not much is dictated by reason or logic.  So, of course, I took one of my fenderless bikes--Tosca, my Mercian fixie, to be exact.

Needless to say, I did get caught in one of the meteorological "occasions" that was forecast. I rode through it, and another.  Not surprisingly, I ended up with some dirt and mud spattered on the wheels, frame and seat and handlebar bags (which cleaned up surprisingly easily). 

Unless I've had a particularly long or hard ride, or I simply don't have time, I clean my bike before I clean myself.  It's not that I care more about my bikes' than my own appearance (although I think my bikes are far more capable of looking good than I am!).  Rather, I always thought that it didn't make sense to take a shower, then to get dirty again when cleaning my bike.

After giving Tosca her wipe-down, I turned toward the sofa and saw Max:

Hmm...Maybe I was grungier than I thought I was!

Just Ahead Of The Storm

From Traveling Two

This morning I managed to get in a ride just ahead of one of the worst storms we've had in a while.

Just after I got home, I could hear the raindrops pinging like BB's against the awning.  We may have had hail, as some other parts of the NYC Metro area did.

Whatever the precip was, a sudden, fierce wind drove it.  Some people on Long Island said they saw a funnel cloud; I know that a lot of trees came down.

When I'd finished riding, the temperature was near 100 F (39C).  The one good thing about the storm was that it dropped the temperature by about 20 degrees F within an hour.  But I could just barely see out my window, so I didn't go for another ride.

But, as brief as my morning ride was, it gave me a pretty good workout.  And I felt a sense of victory, however small, over having beaten that storm!