A cold rain began falling just before my classes ended this morning. At noon I stopped at Plaster Student Union for a little lunch. Then, to the amusement of a few students gathered in the lounge near the door, I donned my bright yellow rain suit and headed into… what?
OK, yes, the cold rain is what I went riding into. But I could tell that some of the people who watched me get on my bike and ride into the rain might have been thinking: Yikes! He’s riding into Hell!
But was I uncomfortable?
It’s on days such as these that I like bicycle commuting the most. Rain and cold cannot stop me from burning my own calories for basic transportation. As I was riding and thinking about this post, it occurred to me that I was the one who was comfortable.
What I saw on the sidewalks were people huddled against the cold and the rain — many without umbrellas or rain coats. I saw people scurrying to their cars, heads down and shoulders hunched, in a disparate bid to escape the cold and the rain.
I, on the other hand, was perfectly dry and warm. I was, in fact, a bit too warm 
Today is not a day to be a lightly-clad driver of an automobile.
I always carry a backpack when I ride. Now that has little to do with riding in and of itself. Since I ride my bicycle as basic transportation, I require a way to carry things just as a driver of a car must carry things. And the things I carry pertain to the daily needs of my life. Again, just like the driver of a car. One of the things I carry is rain gear. A driver has a roof and windshield, but he must first get into the car for those things to do him any good.
Days such as these — cold and wet — are really far less of a problem for me that those poor, hunching figures dashing to their cars, hoping not to get wet.