Another Bike Ride in the Cooling Rain - Continental Tyres - No Aggressive Drivers

8/5/14 251lbs, 57 pounds lost since 8/30/11
30 minute Spin in the Rain

First, though, I want to post a picture of a T-shirt that I saw on Facebook today. Being a grandpa I found it very special:

Real Grandpas Go Cycling! Love it!

This afternoon was another bike ride through a soft rain in my neighborhood. It wasn't a "thunderstormy" type of event, but a gentle rainfall. I didn't use any kind of rain coat, I figured that if I got wet big deal. I wasn't going anywhere but home, so who cares if I got wet?

The only real difference in how I ride when the streets get wet is in cornering. I slow down quite a bit more and I don't pedal in the corners. The less torque on the rear wheel, the better! I do turn on my full night-time array of lights, however, because when the rain is coming down it's more difficult for cage drivers to see little old men on bikes. I don't want to be a hood ornament, so I make myself as visible as possible.

I love my Continental tyres on the bike so much, that I invested in a set of Continentals for our Dodge Caravan. I figure if the quality is so high on their relatively inexpensive bicycle touring tires, it must be very high on their expensive automobile touring tires. It cost over 6 bills to make the purchase tho - Don't tell Bonnie what I spent! (Actually she already knows. I'm just kidding. She's not too happy with the cost, but I want her to be safe in her car.)

An interesting side note to today's wet ride: I think it's been two or three months since I've seen an aggressive anti-cycling driver. Sometimes the mere presence of a cyclist on the street makes drivers mad, so they honk and "buzz" us (which is to pass dangerously close to a cyclist on purpose) or yell or throw things. It's been quite a while (relatively speaking) since I've encountered someone like that. I don't think I'm riding any differently; I still take the lane when I need to, and ride like the bike is a vehicle (for example, making left turns from the left turn lane, etc.), but no one acts mad. I'm probably on a lucky streak of some kind, I guess.

I don't understand why people would get mad and/or aggressive at a person just out to get some exercise on a bicycle. But it happens, and, unfortunately, quite frequently. I don't know why I've been given a respite for the last several weeks, but I'm not going to argue.

See you on the bike!