Caught out!

Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons by a longshot, but they're fraught with error every single year. They're basically opposite syndromes - in Spring, I wear clothing that is a hair too warm for the temperature, and in Fall I have real difficulty letting go of wearing shorts and sandals everywhere. At some point am invariably caught out in the weather with clothing that is just all wrong. That was me, Monday.

There's a saying here in Texas that there are a lot of places in the world where it can be tough to go outside because of the climate. But we don't have "climate" in Texas, we have WEATHER. The state of things can change incredibly fast, and no more so than during the transitional seasons. Monday, I rode into work and it was just lovely out. All day, I watched clouds roll in and out and with a 30% chance of rain, felt my paranoia rising. I went and put a plastic bag on my bike seat. On my last break I went outside to take the photos of my lock for my last post, and seeing that it was a bright and sunny day, said to myself, "Oh, you're just being paranoid again!" and removed the bag. 

The Surly, enjoying the new bike rack at work, immediately before the monsoon.

About 30 minutes later it started to monsoon. I had a wet leather saddle, no rain jacket, and it was rush hour. I called for a ride. Which made me feel like a huge sissy until from the perspective of my friend's dry car, saw what I'd have been riding through to get home. The drivers were acting insane, and the whole right lane of my main artery home was flooded.

That said, a little more preparation and paranoia would have saved me the embarrassment and inconvenience of getting caught out. But this time of year the weather can be hard to anticipate. And I hate carrying everything but the kitchen sink "just in case," so sometimes one will misgauge things. It's just something to take in stride and handle the smartest way possible, I suppose.