The End of the Week and the Beginning of Another

That was a busy weekend.  From the time I climbed onto my bike Friday morning until late Sunday night, there weren’t many spare moments.  Normally, I’d simply skip the ride report for Friday, but it was quite an interesting ride.

As I opened the front door of the house to get out and ride on Friday, I noticed dark and foreboding clouds.  I immediately grabbed my smartphone and called up a radar map, which showed very few widely scattered mini-showers in the area.  Knowing that I would be gone from home until at least 8 am, I went back inside and grabbed a rain jacket.  It was 60° F and at that temperature, even a light rain can be pretty chilly.  By the time I had ridden a quarter of a mile, the light rain started.  I stopped and pulled on the jacket.  By the time I got to the Rusty Bridge, the light rain was pretty steady.  Almost to a person, the riders gathering had a story similar to mine.  They stepped outside, saw the clouds, went back for a rain jacket that was not part of the original mix of gear.

The ride to Annapolis was wet.  Our conversation was muted, punctuated often by, “where did this rain come from?”  We dripped our way into The Hard Bean, glad to pull off the rain jackets.  You see, rain jackets are designed to keep the rain out and the sweat in.  It is warmer than not wearing one, but it is often just as wet.  Seriously, all rain jackets seek to vent sweat away from the body, but they all do a pretty poor job of it unless it is about 40 degrees.  At least we were not cold.

Breakfast and coffee was good.  There was plenty of good-natured ribbing about food choices.  And then it was time to don damp, clammy rain gear and head back out into the rain for the ride back home.  Conversation was kept to a minimum as we simply put our heads down and headed home.  About the time that the rain picked up in intensity, Mike C flatted.  The collective groan wasn’t missed by Mike, who urged us to go on and leave him destitute by the side of the road to repair the flat himself.  We would have none of that, and in short order repaired the flat in the persistent rain.

Some days it is fun to ride in the rain.  This wasn’t one of those days.

This morning’s ride was very different.  The sunrise was spectacular.  Temperatures were pleasant.  Even though it was Mosey Monday, we had a few sprints and a pretty quick pace on the day.  In fact, I think we had 15 riders out, which usually means that someone is going to go fast.  I did set a personal record speed on a nearly 1 mile segment.  Average speed over that distance was 26.4 mph, and that was muted because of both an oncoming rider and one of our group who was not willing to kick the speed up and slowed us down as we passed.  

It is fun to go fast.

So it is a good start to the week.  I fully expect to be able to ride every day this week.  I’m looking ahead to a 327k ride on Saturday, June 29th.  That 200 mile ride will start at 4 am and will have a good group of guys riding.

These Rides: 45.9 miles
Malaria Campaign: 270.7 miles
Funds Pledged: $75.80
Contributed in support: $100

2013: 2806.6 miles
Total since 1/1/2010: 22,579.5 miles