All posts by Mike

Finally an “A”-rated rain ride!

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I’ll admit Wednesday night, while taking out the garbage in the wind and rain, I wondered why I ought to be looking forward to a wet ride the next morning. At the end of the day you’re thinking about a nice warm bed and the thought of putting on your winter rain gear and heading out into a cold, wet and windy storm sometimes doesn’t seem too appealing. You even wonder if you’re going to wimp out. Why not? Who could blame you? Plus it was going to be solo, since Kevin had to deal with a girlfriend distraught over s dog issue.

But… you get up, go through all the motions, and momentum carries you through. And so glad it did because this was the first really soaking rain in ages. Had to stop under the Canada/280 overpass to put on my waterproof jacket, which never came off for the rest of the ride.

Windy? A bit, but our route is pretty well sheltered; you hear it more than feel it. Not much debris on the road but lots to the side; the road crews must have had a busy night.

While much wetter than Tuesday, it was also much more comfortable; HUGE difference between 38 and 42 degrees when raining!

So a very good ride shared by nobody else on the road.

We’ll give the first “real” winter rain ride a B. Good effort.

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride

It’s 38.7 degrees, it’s raining, and you’re up on Skyline getting ready for a long descent home. What’s not to like?
Sure, it would have been nicer to wake up to a roaring downpour with the wind driving the rain against the bedroom windows, but maybe that’s being saved for Thursday. Today we had light rain and pretty cold but not quite nastily so.

Of course nobody showed up, just myself and Kevin. No records broken, either fast or slow. Easy 37 minute ride to the top and the chance to actually talk a bit on the way up. Kevin started out pretty slowly (apparently didn’t sleep well) but picked up the pace as we headed up the hill. NOBODY out there. No cyclists I mean. A few cars, one runner. Actually we did see someone commuting north on Canada Road at the start; curiously not someone we’d seen before (on an older blue LeMond bike). Not on Strava either.

It was about 42 at the start, dropping gradually as we climbed Kings, bottoming out around Skeggs at 37 degrees. Had it been raining really hard, that might not have been too comfortable; anything below 40 in a really soaking rain is generally not a lot of fun. But this was light rain and not an issue. Still, it was more fun on the flats and climbs than on the descents.

Thursday should be more fun. Forecast is for a steady rain, moderate winds. We’ll be ready.