Spiritual rainforest

It was one of those mornings when the humidity is about 169%, when you don't bother to check the temperature because it's totally irrelevant, and when the very air itself feels like the pressure is building, and something is going to give any second. Years go I remember a short ride in these conditions to visit a friend in another town on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. I remember tiring very quickly that day, simply because of the impossibility of getting sufficient air into my lungs to perform at a high level. I've since learned my lesson.



Today I went for a more consistent pace, taking my time early, gradually getting into the ride until I'd left the coast behind, and headed inland where the humidity would be diminished. Still the feeling of something about to break persisted, and in the rainforested valley at Austinville, the rain started. It wasn't heavy, and it probably only reached what I'd call moderate in a couple of instances. Still, it was a delight to behold in the rainforest. It's an almost spiritual experience to ride through a rainforest while it is actually raining.



I actually took my time here, wanting to savour the experience (although that didn't seem to hinder my average speed too much, not that I was really bothered with that). Wanting to savour the experience was probably the right move. I've often said in the past that the biggest mistake a person can make on a ride is to come home -- that proved to be the case this morning. The day just went downhill from there. I won't go into a huge rant about it, suffice to say that my contempt for the less intelligent members of the community that I have the misfortune of being unable to avoid encountering grows.