How Bad Could It Be?

After seven years in the desert, I am re-learning how to ride in the rain. I am also remembering the kinds of gear one should wear while doing so. As a kid in Florida I knew about rain; every afternoon we expected a 'sun shower' which simply meant that the sun was shining and the rain was pouring. I had been in plenty of rainstorms, walked in the rain, run in the rain, sat in classrooms soaked from the rain, and even sailed in the rain. At age fifteen I got my first motorcycle, learned how to ride, so sooner or late I was going to ride in the rain. I knew about rain and just didn't worry about it - how bad could it be?

Real bad.

Little raindrops at slow speeds don't hurt; those same raindrops at 40 or 50 MPH hurt a LOT!!! I should have known better; I grew up around guns and understood the concept of low caliber, high velocity. And in science class we had done an experiment about force, velocity and mass, first propelling a bowling ball against a target and then doing the same with a marble. We measured and compared the effects and quickly determined that getting hit with a bowling ball at slow speed was far preferenable to getting hit with a marble at high speed.

But at age fifteen (actually at most ages) we don't always transfer lessons from one field to another. After all, what do bowling balls and marbles have to do with rain?

Turns out, a lot.

Under the right conditions I actually enjoy riding in the rain, as it affords a nice change (remember I come most recently from the desert - ask me again in six months) and the opportunity to practice riding under different circumstances, both of which have value for me. And I have remembered that there are three basic options (or combinations thereof) when faced with traveling in the rain: don't go there, increase your outer protection, or slow down.

Small is endurable; small with a lot of speed or velocity hurts. The marble experiment taught me that and the rain reminded me of the lesson. Little raindrops can be refreshing and delightful; little raindrops at high speed HURT! Words, looks, or actions can seem small by themselves but when hurled at high velocity, line whenwe are angry or frustrated or embarrressed, can hurt a lot. So depending upon where you find yourself in the intereaction, make a choice: don't got there, slow down, or increase your outer protection.