Excuse me, sir. Your flood has arrived…

Last night I was heading home from a tutoring gig. It was quite hot, and a gentle rain began to fall. I recall thinking “How nice–a cool rain.”

Soon, the drops began to *hurt*. At that point, I pulled under some shelter and got into my rain gear. While putting on my poncho, the skies opened up. In moments, water was streaming down the road and the drains were overwhelmed.

Cold, dark, wet. Three not-so-great driving conditions when you’re on a scooter. I’ve not travelled the particular road I was on a lot, so I was unfamiliar with the topography. I had to resort closely following other scooters and observing water depths as they fought their way through ‘puddles’. Often, the water was over my footpegs and I was concerned about the engine flooding.

In the end, a 20 minute drive under normal conditions turned into an hour+ slog through the cold and the wet. Several lessons learned:

1) Timbuk2 bags rock. The outside of my messenger bag was soaked. The insides were dry. As it should be (but often isn’t).

2) The normally ‘charming’ habit of Vietnamese drivers who like to drive without headlights takes on a terrifying new meaning in a major rainstorm. WTF? If you’re going to insist on driving without lights of any kind, the very least you can do is avoid *me*. *You* can see *me*.

3) Disc brakes on scooters. Seems silly, but, trust me, well worth it. Especially if the idiot from point 2 *doesn’t* avoid you…