The rain is beating down so hard the noise drowns out all other sound. Down below preparations are going on for opening the market just like every morning; trucks of all sizes coming and going, boxes of fruit and vegetables being loaded or offloaded, and men shouting to each other over the droning of engines. Normally the sounds from all this would float up to me where I stand but this night they don't, nothing but the whoosh of the water. On a clear night you could see far from here, the lights of apartments on the other side of the city and the faint outline of distant mountains against the pre dawn sky, but tonight the pouring rain obscures everything, making the world seem small. It's like being in a silent bubble, surrounded by a curtain of water.
It's not a proper thunder shower yet, but the rain is still pretty heavy, big drops pelting me as I go along. Speed always amplifies the force of the drops, normally it starts to feel painful when you go above 60 kph and now I'm already doing a little over 90; every single drop hitting my chest or legs stings like a bullet from a BB gun - it's like riding through a barrage of machine gun fire. As if the pain wasn't enough, the thin rain jacket is woefully inadequate, I can feel myself becoming wetter with every second. For whatever reason - maybe it's because I've recently been reading a Finnish World War 2 novel - I react to the deep feeling of misery by repeatedly swearing in Finnish: Saatana Perkele, Saatana Perkele
The rain is truly torrential now, large drops falling at a rapid pace. The road we’re on has turned into a veritable river; dead leaves and other debris from the surrounding jungle have been washed out onto the road and gotten caught on the edges of the many cracks in the asphalt, forming little islands here and there. The road is steep enough for a current to form, it keeps splitting and reconnecting as it flows around the little islands, even building up swells as it passes around some of the bigger ones. Separate streams flow down the ditches on … Read the rest
I’m armoured against the weather, warm jacket, rain jacket, rain pants with little built in shoe covers, helmet, and mountaineering gloves. Despite all that I know this is going to be hell, it is cold like it can only be in tropical weather, when normally comfortable temperatures chill you to the bone; and the rain is coming down hard. There is a kind of duality to this; the reports about low water levels in the nation’s reservoirs that I saw in the paper a few days ago had me worried so this is a good thing, but did the government … Read the rest
I’ve seriously had it with this incessant rain, like Samuel L Jackson in Snakes on a plane would have said: enough is enough! It spoils the fun of riding by making the road slippery, it ruins any photo ops offered by the gorgeous scenery I’m passing, but worst of all, I’m getting soaked despite my rain gear. It is utterly and completely miserable.… Read the rest
It’s just pouring down, heavy drops patter incessantly on the visor of my helmet and although I’m dressed for battle with elements, rain jacket, rain pants, and big floppy shoe covers that are impossible to walk in, there is till considerable discomfort. The drops sting my lips every time I accelerate, my gloves are already wet through and through, and there is a coldness in my crotch which I sincerely hope isn’t water soaking through my pants. Sometimes, on a good road in good weather, riding a motorcycle can be thoroughly enjoyable; swooping smoothly from turn to turn as you carve your way through a … Read the rest
I have covered up as well as I can, rain jacket, rain pants and even shoe covers, but the rain is pretty heavy and it gets amplified by my speed; though I’ve only been on the way for a few minutes, I can already sense chinks in my armor, little spots of cold where the water is starting to work it’s way through. It’s like nature wills me to hunker down and shy away, but I keep my back straight and my speed high, defying the elements, defying my own instinct. This will be hell to pay.… Read the rest
I’ve only been outside for a couple of minutes but I’m already utterly and completely drenched. My shirt clings to my back like a wet dish cloth, my jeans are heavy with water, sticking to my thighs. Every time I brake or change gear, a torrent of cold water runs down my legs and sloshes around in my shoes. When I speed up the heavy drops pound my chest like a fistful of marbles, I’m suffering unmatched levels of discomfort. I see the light turn green and the riders preceding me hit a giant puddle on the opposite side of … Read the rest
Swedish summer nights are very nearly endless, the light usually not fading until about eleven, but tonight is different. It is still light enough to see by but there is a darkness to the sky that makes it feel as if light is fading from the world altogether. Dark, brooding rain clouds mingle with a thick, light grey soup that blocks out the sun, tinged purple by nonexistent sunset and orange from pointless street lights below. Rain falls heavily on the ground, creating streams and pools on the paths beneath my window. The world is lifeless and empty except for … Read the rest
My shoes are leaking, my shoes are leaking, my shoes are leaking, my shoes are leaking, my shoes are leaking. It is around three degrees outside and rain is falling from a milky white sky onto the same boring old buildings as always. The rain is mixing with the slush and melting snow, forming small streams and waterfalls as it flows down hills and stairs. All I can focus on are my cold, wet feet and the sickly squelching sensation that my soaked socks make at each step. Stupid shoes, stop leaking!… Read the rest
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