Last year, my sister, Rebecca, and her friend, Brynne, and I were all hanging out during the summer. We were just sitting there, in the bedroom, with nothing to do on the warm gloomy Sunday afternoon. My sister spoke up and said, “We need to go and do something. It’s getting boring really fast.” Brynne just sat looking out the window, the clouds had formed heavy gray lumps across the vast sky. I had the greatest desire to go on an adventure, “Let’s bike to the Botanic Gardens.” The weather forecast said that there would be heavy thunderstorms in the afternoon. That would mean we would most likely get caught in the storm. I was very cautious when making a decision because it was more than just a light drizzle. It was also a bike ride on a thirty-five mile trail with not many places to stop and take cover. Then after about fifteen minutes we came to a decision. All three of us glanced at each other and agreed that no matter if it rained or not, it was better than sitting in a congested bedroom all day. I was starting to regret my decision but I was the little sophomore sister and they were the big college kids so I kept my mouth shut. The bikes were rolled out of the garage and the phones were put in plastic baggies, just in case it rained.

The garage was closed before I could run back in and so the bike trip had begun.

The wind rushed passed the bikes, grazing the skin ever so slightly giving me goosebumps. The trees rustled in the wind like little girls whispering in the night. The trail curved and curled up and down through the gray haze. The trail was almost empty because people were scared that it was going to storm, but that didn’t phase us one bit. It had a calming effect on me for some reason, the breeze, the emptiness, the trees, everything just seemed to fall in place. At one point during the ride, there was a steep bridge that runs over a busy street. The buzzing coming from the cars below was like wasps flying around ready to sting. It gave life to the ride. We all changed gears on the bikes hoping that the uphill would be easier, but it was still a struggle. We were out of breath when we hit the top of the hill. Brynne turned her head around glaring and saying, “Never again am I doing that.” The downhill part was great though. The acceleration of the bikes was exhilarating. My hair was flying back, free like there was no care in the world. It all ended so quickly, there was a curve at the end of the bridge, which when going downhill, comes up pretty quickly. All of our bikes had a mind of their own and went off the trail and into the tall grass. My bike ran into Brynne’s bike which had run into Rebecca’s which had landed in a mud hole. We all fell off the bikes, laughing our hearts out. We left that collision with just a few minor scratches and a good story.

My regrets had officially left and I was having more fun than I had expected.

The wind had picked up and started to get a little chilly. We still had a few more miles to the Garden so we decided that in order to beat the rain we had to book it, and do it soon. We got ourselves together and raced for the rest of the way. We looked like a bunch of crazy people about to attack someone, but it was energizing to go fast. We had finally reached the Botanic Gardens safely, out of breath and hungry. Brynne and I went into the cafe to get some food as Rebecca stood guard over the bikes. We returned and the raindrops had began to fall. While shoving the food down, we hopped on the bikes and started up, being so ready to get home. Right as we passed the Garden’s exit gates, the thunderstorm sirens had gone off. The sound was like a car horn being pressed in the morning. We all jumped and looked at each other with terrified looks. We were twenty miles from home and the Garden had just closed. Rebecca with her crazy ideas said, “Guys, this is great we can bike home in a thunderstorm! Let’s do it!” Brynne and I looked at each other and figured we had nothing to lose so we went for it.

The drops of rain were large and hard as they hit the skin. Each drop was like a mini bullet hitting the skin. As we picked up speed the rain got harder. The water running into the eyes and making my contacts swim around, everything became blurry. We kept going. The lightning lit up the dark skies. Mud splatters covered our legs and back of our shirts. We went faster. No one was on the trail at that point which made it even better. The thunder cracked and made loud booming noises like two trucks colliding with each other. Then the steep bridge had come up again, we were ready to take it on. Going uphill seemed like an eternity but downhill was another story. It was a blur with the amount of rain coming down. The rain had gotten even colder, my goosebumps seemed permanent by now. The T-shirts were soaked and hung like potato sacks. Once we got close to the end, the rain had stopped. Before we knew it, the trail came to an end and we were in uptown Park Ridge. The odd thing was that it was dry. No rain. The pavement was dry like the desert. People looked at us like we were crazy. It was probably because all three of us had on drenched clothes and Park Ridge was bone dry.

As we neared home, the one thing that passed through my mind was that if I’m bored and the weather looks bad, it may not be a bad idea to go on a biking adventure.

Once back in the bedroom, we changed our wet clothes, and grabbed some snacks, all three of us looked at each other and said at the same time, “That was the best bike trip ever!”