ProfJ- Normally (never?) you won't get lift under virga, only a downdraft accelerated by evaporative cooling. Virga descends from cloud, so I suspect what you saw between rain clouds were the vertical wisps marking convergence updraft and condensation created by the opposing winds. The way you navigated through this was the correct thing to do. The Kempton Izuno article concerned a much more powerful cumulonimbus system that involved a far more risky and avoidable situation. Here's a video that contains relevant cloud formations seen during convergence (e.g. @ 5:15 near the glider's vent). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_QplJI30SU

(Spell-chick by Moshe)

On Tuesday, September 1, 2020 at 1:19:22 PM UTC-5, ProfJ wrote:
Typing this with my fireproof suit on...last weekend I tried to duck between two rainy cumulus clouds on my glide back to home base. As I went through the gap it became filled with virga and I was sucked rapidly upwards, probably would have been about 10m/s if I had not had the nose well down. This was not tranquil, but not terrifying either (I was about 3000 ft below cloudbase) and added some useful height and speed.

So here's the question: would you (do you?) deliberately head into virga if you needed the boost, or is this a truly dumb thing to do? Same for rain clouds (assuming you are in updraft not downdraft zone), how close would you get?

Not looking for legal technicalities here, this was good VFR at all times - just trying to calibrate risk.