Pondering Thought #2: Riding My Bike in the Rain

I’ve gotten used to riding my bike in the scorching heat and know how to prepare for it.  I slather on a layer of SPF 30 Active Sport Sunscreen, wear breathable comfy clothes, pack 2 bottles of water, and leave my house around 8:00am or 9:00am, before the sun gets too hot.  There’s no point in bathing in the morning because I’m completely drenched in sweat by the time I reach town.  Then, as the sun rays get more intense, I walk around Arua and do my errands (bank, produce market, supermarket, post office, etc.).  Also, walking around town adds a layer of brown dirt/dust to my skin that sticks nicely to the sweat.  It always makes me wonder if I’m really tan or really filthy.  After another hour ride back, I have to bathe immediately when I get home because I’m just a hot mess (and that’s when I realize it’s dirt and not a tan).

I kept thinking that the rainy season would be a blessing – no dust, no sweat, no sunburn.  Well, today I got my first taste of riding my bike in the rain.  I was in Arua and actually made it most of the way home before it started raining - I was only about 2 miles from Kuluva, so I figured I’d just ride through it and go straight home.  Of course, I paid attention to every little detail and made mental notes of the whole experience:

• Rain in Africa is almost always accompanied by lightning and thunder.  Not fun when you’re riding a bike on an open road.
• Rain hitting your skin at high speeds hurts – and eventually (during the cooler months) the rain will turn to hail.  Ouch.
• But no sunburn!  Woo-hoo!
• I didn’t have my rain gear with me because it was sunny when I left home this morning. So my backpack and its contents were soaked: my wallet, notebook, mail from the post office, groceries, etc.  Good thing I didn’t buy bread today!
• The dust that covered my bike finally got rinsed off.  It looks shiny new.
• I thought riding in the rain would give my clothes a nice rinse too.  Unfortunately, the rain water gets mixed with road dust, and when a large truck/bus passes me, I get sprayed by their tires.  My clothes are filthy . . . so is my skin and my hair.
• And somehow, I still sweat while bike riding in the rain.  I still need to bathe immediately when I get home.
• But I didn’t get as dehydrated as I do in the heat.  The rain kept my body cool and the ride was easier.

Riding through a little drizzle is ok, but I think I should stop at one of the villages and take cover during a downpour and/or lightning storm.  Even today, as I passed Eruba and the rain started, the people called out to me to stop and “stay over here!”  I think next time I will.

(*A few days after I blogged about how hot it is, we got rain.  And there have been a few random showers since then.  Like today.)