Rainy Days and Mondays

4th October Planned route length 20 miles

Inspired by Martins last blog on the monday rides and the weather I have decided to scatter a few song titles in this blog. (a few off them may have been slightly changed to fit. How many can you spot)?

In 1970 Creedence Clear Water asked Have you ever seen the rain. Well on monday the 4th of October 2021 as Alan, Jenny, John, Maurice, Nick and Simon set of from the Old Bull at Lower Langley there were no signs of rain other than a Few Fluffy White Clouds.

The 20 mile route was to take us through Barley, Anstey, Brent Pelham and back to the Bull at Lower Langley.

On route just passed Maurices house we picked up Rod, who because of the fuel situation decided to leave the car at home and to pick us up on route.

Rod ’s pictures before the rain.

As we set off up towards the Joint we could see A Change was Gonna Come. Sure enough Rain started falling. Those not wearing water proof jackets quickly stopped to get them on. With Large Rain Drops Stared Falling on our Heads Nick sped off up to Barkway. Once we caught up with him we found him sheltering in a bus stop. Asked why he stop there he replied I can’t Stand the Rain.

After a few minutes sheltering in the bus stop we agreed that the rain was not going to stop and the best approach was to Make it Through the Rain. Passing by the golf course and looking south west we could see Hard rain was going to fall. Sure enough Down Came the Rain it bounced off the road and dripped in through our waterproofs. At this point there was No Singing in the rain and certainly No Laughter in the Rain.

At Anstey we took the collective decision that we did not want to be Fools in the Rain so in order to get back as fast as we could we would truncate the route.
At Meesden the temperature dropped and the rain turned to hail, stinging any exposed skin.

Approaching Nicks house Maurice asked, if any of us wanted to Shelter from the Storm. At this point we were all thinking Who is going to stop the Rain. However as we were all wet through and starting to feel the cold we decided to carry on back to the Bull.

Coming down the hill into Lower Langley the rain stopped and the clouds parted allowing us to See clearly the Bull Now that the Rain was gone.

A few wet cyclist squelched into the Bull to drink a well earned pint.
If not the most enjoyable ride we have ever been on it was certainly one of the most memorable.

For those who went on the ride it was generally agreed that that was the heaviest rain that we had ever cycled.

For those wondering what the song titles were (poetic licence was used on some) here is a list.

Rainy days and Mondays. The carpenters

Have you ever seen the Rain. Credence Clearwater

Fluffy White Clouds. The Orb

A Change is gonna come. Sam Cooke

Rain. Madonna

Rain drops keep falling on my head. B J Thomas

Down game the rain. Mitch Murry

I can’t stand the rain. Tina Turner

Singing in the Rain. Gene Kelly

Laughter in the Rain. Neil Sedeka

A Hard Rain is going to fall. Bob Dylan

Make it through the rain. Mariah Carey

Fool in the Rain. Led Zeppelin

Shelter from the Storm. Bob Dylan

Who is going to Stop the Rain. Creedence Clearwater Revisited.

I can see clearly now the rain has gone. Jimmy Cliff