Today I took shelter, albeit briefly, from rain while on a cycle ride. There; I’ve admitted it. As a rule I don’t mind riding in the rain and only stop in order to pull on some sort of waterproof top. After all, it’s only water.

But there was something about today’s interplay between short, sharp and surprisingly cold showers and the brief preiods of warm sunshine between them that made me dive for the shelter of a bus stop and wait for the latest cloudburst to ease off.

Why? I guess because if the only prospect on offer is of getting steadily wetter, there’s no point; you may as well keep going and get the experience over more quickly. And, if between showers that only lightly dampen the rider, the periods of sunshine are long enough to dry clothing, there’s no need to stop since you’ll be dry again soon enough.

Today, at one point on the ride there seemed to be one heavy burst after another with barely five minutes between them, while a great patch of brightness shone from the general direction of oncoming weather, promising respite. Dive for shelter while still dry and you’ll be able to enjoy the next short period of warmth all the more; something like that must have guided my decision.

Did it work? For sure, and there was further reward in the appearance of an impressive rainbow as the dark mass of cloud receded into the distance. Stopping was still soft, though.