Do the hard stuff first. This is what I keep telling myself. What I forgot on the morning I left Deux Montagnes, is that I don’t have to choose to make already hard stuff even harder.

When I prepared to leave I figured the morning chill would burn off within an hour. I am really not a fan of riding in the cold. All my time in the saddle in Quebec, however, has been scorching hot. Except, of course, the last time I left Tanya’s! I opted to not put on my heated vest and packed it conveniently in the bottom of my dry bag. I half-considered donning rain gear for added warmth, but like I said; I hoped the chill would burn off early.

Within an hour I was stopped and trying to wriggle into that rain gear after all. I’m sure the auto shop I parked in front of howled when they watched their footage that day. Let me paint a picture for you. I wheeled into the parking lot quick and leapt off my bike. I was a bit mad at myself for not just putting on my rain gear at Tanya’s to begin with. It’s a lot easier to do when you’re sitting on a sofa or chair. Nevertheless, I hauled it out of my side case and fought my way into my pants. I mean really fought. I had to sit right down on the ground because I kept falling over standing up.

So there I am, sitting on the ground stuffing my boots into my rain pants like a toddler. Nothing seemed to be going right. I’ve put these dang things on a dozen times, what was happening? Finally they were up to about my knees. I tried standing up, but then one foot slipped on gravel as I pushed up from all fours. Near face plant. Now laying down I flopped and bucked until I could get the pants up the rest of the way. I had recollections of my 1980s teen years trying to zip up my jeans with a coat hanger while I stretched out on my bed.

OK now I’m no longer freezing, but sweating buckets. I questioned whether I even NEEDED the extra layer from my rain gear now! Finally vertical, I took a step towards Jules so we could just get on the road again already. “What the hell” I’m thinking as I move, “there’s no way I ate that much at the spa that I can’t fit into my RAIN pants!” I looked down at myself and immediately threw my head back in a fit of laughter.

They were on backwards.

I was staring at the padded butt where I expected my front pocket to be. No WONDER they wouldn’t go on easily! Thankfully, wriggling out went faster and putting them on the right way didn’t require laying down or writhing beside my bike.

Like I say, when those folks checked their footage, I’m sure I put some smiles on those faces! I gave the camera a wave, hopped on Jules, and sped off into the frigid morning air.