Anyway, it's been raining almost nonstop ever since. And, I got to thinking about how bikes look when they're out in the rain.
I found this photo on a Flickr page. It was taken by Andre Wine in the Hardebrucke Station in Zurich, Switzerland. The next time someone tells you the Swiss are boring or don't have a sense of style, show him or her this photo.
Plus, I must say, I haven't done a lot of cycling in Switzerland. But what cycling I did was certainly memorable!
Anyway, the rain also brings me into the mood of this poem by Guillaume Apollinaire:
The poem, "Il pleut," or "It's Raining," can be translated thus:
It's raining women's voices as if they had died even in memory
It's also raining you, marvelous encounters in my life, o little drops
Those rearing clouds begin to neigh a whole universe of auricular cities
Listen if it rains while regret and disdain weep to an ancient music
Listen to the bonds falling off that bind you above and below.
Those last two lines are such an apt description of what I've experienced over the last couple of years--and the way I often feel when cycling. Especially the last line.
Still, I'd prefer that it stop raining, at least for a couple of days--and even if one of my bikes has fenders!
I have in my sixth decade just acquired my first fender free bike, well I do now live in Scotland! It is interesting how cyclists have a different attitude to rain generally, many non cyclists assume that they will dissolve if touched by rain! I love the swish of my tyres on wet roads especially enjoyed late night runs home through quiet empty city streets. Perhaps too many potholes now to be able to relax crossing puddles...
ReplyDeleteColine--How is it that people think you can't ride a bike in the rain but think nothing of footballers playing through the worst deluges?
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