Fooled Again

The unstable weather around here lately has rendered the local forecasters little more useful than a look out the window. That look seemed encouraging yesterday evening when I got home, so I thought I 'd try and get in an hour or so on the bike before dark. Knowing that I was taking a bit of a gamble, I rode the Cervelo so that I wouldn't risk getting my regular shoes wet. I've been fooled by the weather before. It's one thing to make a mess of your bike, but soaking your riding shoes is a whole different story. There's nothing quite as uncomfortable as putting on a wet pair of shoes in the morning. (Well, actually I still remember the days of putting on a still-damp Speedo, but I digress.) The sky wasn't looking too bad when I headed out for a quick spin on the levee, but the wind was blowing pretty hard, so I knew things could, and probably would, change rather quickly. Just as I was approaching Williams Blvd. I spotted Mark G. coming the other way, so I made a quick u-turn so I'd have a little company. A little while later we picked up Kenny. Meanwhile, the sky to the southeast was looking darker and darker by the minute. I was still holding out a little hope of making it home dry when Kenny flatted. As we waited for the tube change I could see rain on the horizon. We hadn't been back on the bikes long before a light intermittent rain started, and although I got rather well dampened, I made it home before the cold water started seeping through my socks.

Well, all last night the rain came down in biblical proportions. There was some flooding and road closures, and I didn't get much sleep after the big thunder and lightning show started around 2 am. I was only half-awake when a huge clap of thunder opened my eyes just in time to see all the lights go out. The power didn't come back on until around 6 am, by which time the worst of the storms had passed. The roads, of course, were still soaking wet, and I contemplated going out for a ride anyway, but ultimately decided to skip it. More storms are predicted for tonight, so I'll just have to play it by ear and see if I get a chance to slip out for another little spin this evening. All-in-all it's been a pretty lousy week for me training-wise, thanks mainly to my reluctance to ride in the rain. I could definitely use some miles.....