plan C

plan C began like this: I took my wind jacket out of it's little bag on my bike's top tube, pulled it on over my other layers, and set off anyway.

I had a plan A and a plan B.
tuesday night before I went to bed I readied everything.
alarm: 5:13, same time for either A or B
clothing: two piles. long tights, wool socks, and 3 layers for plan A, shorts, cotton socks, and a sleeveless top for plan B. same heart monitor either way.
bike: front light attached, ready for plan A.
car: key awaiting, ready for plan B.

I was prepared.
prepared for A, dry pavement, or B, wet pavement.
decision to be made at 5:13 and 1/2 as I arose and pulled the curtain aside to look out at the street in front of my house.

at 5:13 and 1/2, the pavement was dry.

but at 5:29 as I opened the garage door to take off on my bike, my eyes were drawn to the speckled pattern of dark/light on my driveway. raindrops.
I hesitated for mere seconds, as thoughts ran through my mind:
I don't want to go change, it's too late to get up to spin class and get a full hour in, I am all ready to go, argh, I don't want to change my plan now . . .

thus, plan C.
I pulled out my wind jacket, shrugged it on, and set off anyway.

I do not like to be thwarted. call me obstinate, stubborn, determined, whatever: once I commit to a plan I seem to have a one-track mind.

plan C, I decided, would have some flexibility. it was really just sprinkling at 5:30, and I wasn't sure if it would intensify or back off or just be pockets. so I rode up the hill, thinking that I would just keep going on my usual route until the weather suggested something different.
well, for a while I had a tailwind and no rain. and so I headed up the canyon.
logic would tell one that when a rainstorm is hovering, higher elevations are likely to receive more than lower elevations, correct?
well, the canyon didn't seem to be so bad. it was just light rain, not a downpour.
regardless, I did concede to the elements and planned to shorten my ride. I wouldn't go all the way to the top: I'd ride up for about 45 minutes or so, then turn and head back.
and all was (relatively) well until the last mile and a half uphill, when the rain decided to be serious. but I was so close to completing plan C . . .

I will just say that the ride down and home was hell. I was freezing, soaked, being stung in the face by mini rain bombs, and only wanting to be home and off my bike. water splashed me from the front tire, from the back tire, from the sky, and I tried to giggle about it, but my cheeks were too frozen and wounded.

I'd like to say I learned a lesson.
but knowing myself as I do, I'm not so sure that I really did.