It was early in the morning and I was wide awake, early enough that there was still an hour or so before the sun would be coming up.

Outside the air was warm but not overly hot for this time of the year. I decided to take the bike out for a ride.

Before I left I went and checked the weather and a peek at the radar. There was a band of rain showing north of me but it was moving west to east and not moving south in my direction so I decided to go for it.

On the bike the air felt cool and comfortable, I ended up riding for almost two hours before I decided to stop for a cup of coffee and a bite to eat.

Ending up at a Starbucks I settled in with my coffee and sandwich, I had my Kindle with me and checked some emails and did some reading while I was there.

A few times my eyes glanced to the sky and I could see the dark clouds looming north but I had myself convinced they weren’t going to make it close enough to rain on me.

Finally I decided to get back on the road and head south, it was still early enough that traffic was light and quiet.

A few drops of rain splattered on me; the big ole fat rain drops. When I looked at the sky it was just a small cloud and again I kept going on my way.

As I was going through one area I saw a sign for a local Tai Chi Society and I decided to stop. I’ve been interested for some time but had never made a big effort to pursue it.

I talked for quite some time to the folks there and gathered some information on when the next beginners classes were coming up.

As I was getting ready to leave one of the ladies I was talking to said, “I hope you don’t get wet.”

That was when I looked at the sky and how it had changed, the clouds had moved south, they were dark, low, and ominous.

Not much I could do at that point so I started riding, heading back north.

At first it wasn’t bad, I made some good time and there was just a few light sprinkles of rain. I began to think I was going to make it without any problem.

The sky opened up on me. The rain came down in torrents, luckily I was close to a shopping center and I was able to duck under there till the rain let up.

I was wet, but not soaked at this point, so when the rain let up I moved on.

No more then two miles up the road the sky opened up once again. This time I was not so lucky, there was no where for me to duck and cover.

I kept moving, at this point I was soaked. Having an open helmet didn’t help any either, the rain kept getting in my eyes.

It was another mile before I came to another shopping center I could pull over into. I left the bike at the curb and ran under the overhang.

The only spot on me that was dry by that time was the top of my head because of the helmet.

I stood there and watched the rain pelting down and watched the sky. It didn’t look good at all. It had turned into the kind of rain that looked like it would keep up all day.

While I stood there I head a door open at one of the stores and the owner came out, he greeted me and said he wasn’t sure if he was seeing right, that someone was out on a bike.

We talked for about an hour and with the weather he had no business coming in so it helped to pass the time till the rain let up.

When it finally did let up I hopped right back on my bike in the hopes I would beat the next wave of rain.

I was doing pretty well almost out of the last town which would have then put me on fairly open road and a straight shot.

Luck wasn’t with me, the road was flooded and it was too deep for me to try and go through. Then I had to sit and wait as no one would stop to let me turn around and go back the way I came.

Finally someone in a truck stopped and let me get back out on the road.

I began going through side streets to make my way around the flooded road, it took a bit but I did find another route, but not before it started raining again.

Thankfully though it wasn’t another gully washer of a downpour so I kept going.

When I made it back to the house I was a sight to behold; I was ready for a hot cup of coffee and a hot shower.

I will be investing in some rain gear very shortly.