Rainy Day Riding

_____________________________________________________________________________________

It was the third day of rain in Las Vegas (an anomoly for sure), and Jerry called me.
"The weather, the dirt is perfect! Let's go fo a ride."
He was right.
Most places when it rains, nobody wants to ride. But in the desert, the dust disappears, the dirt is tacky and hooks up, and the weather is cool.
Sure enough, correct on all points.
Awesome day to ride.
Jerry and I met around a mile from the dry lakebed- which, when it rains, is called a...lake. He introoduced me to Jim, his neighbor. We unloaded the bikes and took off.
I mean, we took off.
The testosterone was running free. We flew over the whoops, charged up the washes, and railed the turns like we knew what we were doing. At least they did. By the first stop, I was a quarter mile back. But everyone smiled and agreed, it was the best day for riding.
We continued up the mountains and into the clouds. Trees appeared on each side. At one point, we came upon a longhorn bull, both he and us asking, 'What are you doing out here?' Around mile fifteen we arrived at the cabin.
It's really a shack, but a nice place to stop and enjoy the scenery. Jerry wisely brought things to eat, and generously shared them with us. What a guy. Soon we felt the chill as our sweat cooled, so we took off, ready to warm up again.
Next we weaved through tight single track and up narrow waterfalls. Challenging and gorgeous! The viewpoints from the peaks treated us to cloud formations, the lake below, and hills dotted with foliage. Tracking down the hills we soon returned to the valley with fast sections once again, this time with raindrops pelting our goggles, making visibilty a bit sketchy. That was my excuse anyway, as the two of them left me in the...well, it wasn't dust, anyway.
We couldn't stop smiling and commenting on the excellent riding conditions as we loaded up our stuff. Then back to town, where Jerry not only bought lunch, but set the table and cleared it afterward. What a guy.
It just doesn't get any better than that.
If only I rode a little bit faster.
Right.