The hot days. 

The really hot days. 

You have already broken a sweat, and you are just locking your door. 

You have not even started your ride. 

Ten minutes in, you begin to think about cold things. 

Cold drinks. 

Drinks filled with ice. 

The swirl of ice cubes in your mouth. 

‘Mr. Freeze,’ the white one. 

A dive off a diving board. 

‘Hanging around’ the bottom of a pool. 

The cold shower you will have when you get home. 

You see a billboard with a drink in a bucket of ice. 

You ride across a bridge and wonder if it is too high to dive from. 

You ride past a patio, and the waiter is carrying a pitcher of beer. 

You look at the river and think about spots where you could enter for a swim. 

You ride past a public pool and someone is doing a cannonball. 

Your ride past a waterfall. 

You remember your rides in the rain. 

You think about that lemonade you had the other day. 

…The one full of small ice pellets. 

The ride is now over. 

You are home. 

You do your thing, all the time thinking about that cold shower to come. 

You get out of your clothes. 

You turn the shower on. 

Leaving the handle fully over on the cold side. 

You step in. 

Then you jump back out. 

‘Oh, that is too cold!’ 

‘Left Out in the Cold’ 

Insert Igloo emoji here. 

‘There is another way to ride.’