The combination of riders tapering before tomorrow's Apple Cider Century and the wet weather led to it being a small group today. Our ride consisted of just Gary, Felix and me. And while it was a successful ride, the early going in the rain was pretty miserable.
Prior to the ride while gathering at Panera, we took some good natured teasing from Heidi. She mentioned that while the members of the group that rode in the Sub 5 Hour Century are pretty fast for five hours, that the more experienced members of last Saturday's ride can go a lot more than just 5 hours. (Heidi, Phil and Charles added an extra 20 miles to last week's ride by heading up to the Botanic Gardens). We had to admit that there is definitely something to the knowledge and stamina that years of experience riding in the Evanston Bike Club provide, because after riding in the rain last Sunday and again today, I wish the rest of us had gotten in some bonus miles taking advantage of the gorgeous weather last Saturday.
The ride up to Lake Bluff was at a very leisurely pace due to caution on wet roads. It stopped raining after we were about half way, and then suddenly became very pleasant. We debated whether or not to stop, based on getting back home before it started raining again. However, stopping to dry out wet socks won out. While we enjoyed the conversation and hot drinks during the break, as it started raining on us again just before we got home, maybe we should have gone with Felix's initial inclination to not make a stop.
The ride home down the Bunny Trail (Skokie Valley Bikeway) started out at a leisurely pace. However, with each pull, we each progressively took turns speeding up the pace by about a mile per hour. Once we got up to 25 mph, Gary and I decided that we did not want Felix to have tired legs for his century the next day, so for his benefit didn't take the pace up any higher. (I realize that most readers of this post that know Gary and me will be skeptical that we backed off because we were being considerate, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it).
The tail end of the ride was wet, as it began raining again. Once again, as has happened numerous times this year, we got really wet on a day when Weather.com only predicted a 10% chance of rain. However, the middle portion of the ride was so enjoyable that it more than made up for the wet early and late sections of the ride.
Haha! I’m glad you see the truth of my comment and the wisdom of Phil/Charles/my superior decision last week…..
ReplyDeleteWe had a ride almost exactly like yours, although we started a little later because we stayed to talk a bit with Trish and Phil – Paul Vragel, Doug Limberg and I had a quick but very wet pace up to Lake Bluff – Bluffington’s was still closed and so was the nearby coffee shop but by then the weather was so sunny we sat outside at a picnic table and just ate the snacks we brought – then quickly hopped back on bikes. Around about Hubbard Woods (on Green Bay) we got hit by hail and the rain you mentioned – it’s hard to go slowly when you want to get OUT OF THE RAIN but the roads were slick and traffic getting thicker …
We could have all gone together since our pace was probably similar to yours except for your 25 up the bunny trail. We didn’t pace because of so much water still flying off the rear wheels. Toward the end of the trail it had dried out so we then started a pace line for a short bit.
Don’t know speeds - I took my computer off the bike since I’m not sure if it likes the rain or not. So let’s see, shall I estimate 27 mph? That works for me
After a hot shower my feeling is that we had a delightful ride.
Heidi
Funny, I ASSUMED most people were smarter than I and stayed home, so I did not even try to get to Panera but just rode in the rain. Let me not overestimate our group intelligence next time...Thought about returning home to get fenders but figured I was already wet...so I rode on and got soaked. Getting home, I found the rear tire rather soft, and found a thorn imbedded in the tire. Not to mention the tons of dead leaves caught in inaccessible places on the bike, and the mud. I worked on the bike for at least two hours just to restore it.
ReplyDeleteTwo wet rides in a row. Two bikes completely overhauled. One unhappy cyclist.
ReplyDelete