I got a lift up to the office from my husband, with the bike (and helmet, gloves, shorts, and shoes) in tow.

It kept on looking like it was about to rain. I worked until 5:00, then picked up a pack of tofu at the QFC. Coming out of the shopping center, it started to rain.

I hadn’t planned on it raining, and not only did I not have a jacket, I was just wearing a lousy cotton t-shirt. The shirt first got wet, and then downright soaked in places.

As I rode over the freshly-poured asphalt near Marymoor, it was steaming in the pelting rain.

Once I was at Marymoor, I figured I could bail if I wanted – I could ride to the bus stop and take a bus home. But the thought of having to ride an extra half mile out of my way to the bus stop (and another half mile home from the bus stop where I’d get off)...and to wait maybe as long as 20 minutes for a bus, when it only would take, at most, 20 minutes to ride home…

I decided to ride anyway. So I did. Deity Hill now I can ride up the first two stair steps without getting out of the saddle, but the final steep step – all that slippery moss? In the rain? I dismounted and walked up.

Despite the risk of chilblains, I took a hot bath when I got home, scrubbed the road grime off of my shins.