Fringe Benefits

Something strange began occurring after I started mountain biking on a consistent basis. I was able to answer ONE of my wife’s questions. This is very strange indeed.

My wife enjoys asking me “what’s the weather going to be like today/tomorrow?� Before, I’d respond with a pensive look on my face before shuffling over to the computer and looking up on weather.com the answer. But now, I’ve discovered a fringe benefit to mountain biking. I can actually answer the question “what’s the weather going to be like?� Thank you mountain biking!

If you ask me what the weather is going to be like for the coming Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday, I’m pretty much spot on because those are my normal biking days. Since I enjoy mountain biking so much I pay special attention to the weather on those days. For Sundays and Mondays, I’m still pretty much clueless. You might as well ask me my anniversary because that’s the same answer I’d give you: “I don’t know.â€Â? j/k. July 5, 200 um… 3?

Because I live in Southern California I am really looking for one thing: is it going to rain? I read the chance of precipitation percentages carefully.

0% = this percentage is really just a reminder of how much trust I have in their predictions
10% = I’m riding
20% = I’ll take my chances. I don’t think it’ll rain and even if it does, only 20% of me will be wet.
30% = small chance of showers, I may need to cancel, what does the next hour look like?
40% + = I’m sleeping in

Saturday morning loos good

The last couple of times, I’ve been bit in the bud when I cancelled a morning ride only to find the sun shining on my window when I wake up (what a bummer). But occasionally weather.com gets it right and I turn over in bed and smirk as I hear the raindrops tapping on the roof.

What are some fringe benefits you’ve realized since mountain biking? And no, you don’t need to state the obvious ie. lost weight, funky tan lines…