This past week in Ottawa has been wet. We started on Monday with snow. Not good. Luckily the snow is gone but we’re still facing many wet days ahead. And in fact in taking a peak at the long term weather forecast we have some cold days ahead of us. Not the weather that favours spending hours outside sitting on a narrow saddle and stomping away on the pedals.

Today I started my day with a rather frosty commute into work. (Yes, I have a full-time technical writing contract right now. So I’m learning to balance/juggle 40 hours of work a week with my training…) It was below zero when I left this morning and to tell you the truth – I didn’t mind. The sky was a brilliant blue. The air had a fresh crisp bite to it. I was outside riding along empty bicycle paths and pretty much car-free roads. Sure I had a few moments of feeling cold but these were barely a concern when I looked at the folks sitting in their cars looking a bit disgruntled and cranky.

I was hoping for a dry ride home since I had a good hard work-out ahead of me. No such luck. For the second day in a row I spent two hours in the pouring rain. It is easy to get grumpy about training in such weather and I’m sure there are some who chose not to ride when it rains. Admittedly I had a couple moments of thinking about how much I disliked the rain.

But then my good friend “perspective” appeared. I thought of Marc who couldn’t train for two weeks due to a case of walking pneumonia. I though of my friend Rob who is injured and can’t ride. I thought of my friend Howard who is dealing with a rotten ulcerative colitis flare and can’t ride. I thought of the days when I’ve been stuck indoors due to ulcerative colitis and other injuries.

All of a sudden, the rain didn’t seem so bad. In fact I started to enjoy it. Once you’re wet – you’re wet. Might as well just ride hard to keep the body warm and appreciate being outside doing something pretty awesome.

I’ve come to appreciate my bike and the time I get to spend on it even more in the last two weeks. Working full-time is a big change (and one I’m happy to be doing) and it can be hard to balance a full-time job with a full-time training program. This makes the time I’m on my bike so much more important to me. Riding is not a “chore” or something “I have to do” instead it is something “I get to do”.

Amazing how and where we can find perspective. Rain. 40 hours a week. It is all good. Life is good. My thoughts are with my pals who are going through tough times right now. Sunny days are ahead.