The Sounds of Rain...

The city in the rain clouds and the autumn colours on show.

Joy here...This morning The Trainer and I headed out for a Friday morning ride up to Pink Lake.  Now while we've done this Pink Lake hill ride a number of Fridays throughout the summer season (like when we all rode up in our multicoloured jackets in 4 C on one Friday, or when we rode hard up that hill on a Friday just before I decided I needed a week off, or my Friday's ode to randomness post when our ride was framed by a series of oddities, or our Pink Lady Friday two-hill repeat up that hill, or the time we headed out on a Friday afternoon in the hot summer sun etc.), today's ride was different from all the other Friday rides up to Pink Lake lookout and back again.

My completely saturated and water-logged leg.

What was this big difference?

Well, today we rode IN THE POURING RAIN!

I've ridden in the rain a few times before - the most notable being the epic two-loop ride of the park that the Sashinator and I pulled off at the start of September - but since first learning how to ride a road bike the year before last, I've never really been brave enough to head out there in a full-on downpour.

All of that changed today.

The Trainer and I chatted this morning and agreed that despite the steady (but light) rain we would still head out to the parking lot before making any decision about calling it quits or heading up to Pink Lake.  And long before we reached the parking lot, the skies had fully opened up on us and we were drenched.  We were soaked right through to our skin, and so when we stood there in the parking lot (see the video below) amidst the downpour, we figured that we might as well just carry on - I mean, we were already wet!

And as we rode forward into the increasing rain (falling so hard at many points that I could barely see ahead of me), we began to think about the soundscape framing a rainy Friday ride.  There's the whizz of our wheels through the puddles, the whoosh and splash of cars zooming by through water, the patter of rain falling on the leaves all around us, and the howl of the wind in our ears.  There are so many different sounds of rain to experience, and we lost ourselves in them all.

As you ride, wind blows by your ears creating white noise in your head like the flapping of a giant sail, and layered over that sound is the whisper of the leaves beside you as the rain falls in the trees creating a sound like TV static.  And then above that sound there is the constant patter of the water falling all around you as if the whole world were your own private shower.  As the rivulets of water run in channels along the road as you pedal, you can hear what sounds like a brook, and as the rain falls harder and harder you would swear that you were riding along a waterfall as the heavy rush of running water deafens you to all the other sounds, even that of your own heavy breathing.

Take a listen to both videos to get a sense for the sounds of a rainy Friday ride.  It'll basically give you a sense of what it was like.  It'll be like you were out there with us this morning.

Only you won't be wet.

Or cold.

Or have to spend an hour cleaning your bike afterwards.

Over and out,
Joy