Cold rain water in my boots

A pretty doggone funny thing happened today - wanna hear it,here it goes:

I'd put up an ad on Craigslist asking for potential motorcyle riding buddies. I heard back from a couple of people and two of us decided to take a ride today. I was a bit skeptical as it was showering off & on but figured a sprinkle or two was bearable. My riding buddy suggested we meet in a town a bit east of here, about 3-4 miles from where I live. There were some raindrops on my way to the meeting but I ignored them.

We met, he rides a Suzuki Katana and had on all the racing gear. I ride a Honda Shadow and had on only my leather jacket. Although I'd packed my chaps & gloves, I didn't want to put them on unless absolutely necessary.

He suggested a place to ride, I didn't know it but was willing to check it out. As we were riding towards the freeway, I noticed a *big* black cloud a bit eastward and had a nagging suspicion that we might be riding towards it. I pulled up & asked him if we were riding in that direction and he said no. We continued riding & got to the freeway and, sure enough, we were riding right into that lovely stormcloud.

The *second* we got on the freeway we ran into rain - cold, hard, driving rain & lots of it. I was almost immediately extremely wet - the raindrops felt like little glass knives on my hands - so I started looking for an exit. The driving heavy rain was also making it difficult see, especially because my helmet was fogging up. I saw my riding buddy happily toodling off into the distance as I raced off the interstate, looking for some relief. I was pretty far from home and the fun was only beginning.

It rained the entire way home. A lot. It rained a lot, cold, with some wind added in for giggles. I was completely soaked in about five minutes. My pants were dripping and there was about an inch of water in my boots. I was hoping like mad that no one would pull out in front of me because my reflexes were pretty slow, in addition to my fog & rain-limited vision. I kind of thought that a spill wouldn't be too bad because I wouldn't feel any of it.

One important difference I've noticed between here and North Carolina - when the sun is behind the clouds out here, it's cold. The air does NOT get warm, so it doesn't feel warm after the sun is gone. That's why it feels so chilly at night. While I was riding home in the rain, the sun was NOT out.

Long story longer, I got home safely, although my fingers barely worked enough to turn the key in the door. I was laughing pretty much the entire way home because it just doesn't get much worse than that. I wasn't sure I'd even be able to peel off my jeans but I manged, along with wringing out my socks! I have since decided that I will not be riding unless the predictions call for sunshine all day. I will not be riding if I can even feel water droplets from a neighbor's sprinkler...