Best ride of the year?

Having not been on the bike much lately, I needed to get some semblance of riding in, so I decided Thursday evening to drive up to the park for a loop. (I would normally ride up, but I figured almost 2.5 hours of riding in this heat might not be the best idea). On the drive up, there were some rain clouds forming, which had me thinking "no, don't rain, please". At the Gamelin parking lot, thunder rumbled as I unloaded my bike from the car..great. Once I got going, the wind was HOWLING, but it was nice and cool, unlike the the furnace-like air we'd been getting. And then, about 10 minutes into my ride, after cresting the Pink Lake hill, it started to rain, just a little at first, and then heavier, then heavier still. It never reached full on downpour status, but it still didn't take long for warm puddles of water to form inside my shoes.
However, the rain was absolutely refreshing, and actually made my ride enjoyable...extremely enjoyable. I was riding well, and just hammering as much as I could. I kept thinking to myself how much fun I was having, riding in the rain, and pushing myself up the climbs as hard as I could. What made this "best ride of the year" was that the rain was unexpected, but it actually made the ride better. It was probably the most fun I've had on a ride this year, or at least a ride on my own. Lets hope for more little pleasant surprises like this one!