When I woke up this morning and looked out of the window there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I decided not to take a cap or indeed a rain jacket. It never even cross my mind to take waterproof overshoes.
Fast forward to this evening and as I rode out from the basement car park where I keep my bike during work I could see the water streaming down the exit road. It well and truly pissed it down all the way home. As I entered my flat my feet squelched inside my soaked Sidi's and I left a trail of water across the floor.
I don't like cycling in the rain. Does anyone? It's usually cold when it rains, especially here in London and it makes for difficult, sometimes treacherous cycling conditions. After I'd taken a hot shower I started surfing the net and came across this fairly new posting on YouTube of footage taken during the legendary 17th stage of the 1988 Giro d'Italia over the Passo Gavia. Watching this footage with riders cycling over the 2600 metre pass through the snow put my little ride home in the rain into perspective. The last 30 seconds or so of the footage shows the riders clearly in pain being warmed up by their soigneurs and the end of the stage.
Next time I'm cycling through the rain I'll remember the tough guys of the Gavia 88 and remind myself to not be such a wimp!
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4 comments:
I winch at riding in the rain, too. Those guys are amazing, taking huge risks. Great footage of Van derVelde, Hampsten & Bruekink!
i rode home from open evening in huge downpour...piss poor knog lights, still no helmet, no tread whatsoeva tubular tracktires, fixed gear bike, front brake next to useless and big bag of marking...."real tough guy" ..............nah just a bloody idiot really!!!!!!
Dan, Maybe you should take the bus?
See you next weekend.
This makes the Boulevard Road Race look tame! Here's my account of it: 45+ Race. This clip is one of my favorite. Whenever I think about complaining about bad weather, I go watch it!
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