Warm Weather and Falling Leaves

The seasons tend to be pretty confused around here.  Just a few days ago I was bundled up in full winter kit.  This morning I would have ridden in just shorts and jersey, but I know better than that.  Even though the air temperature was registering in the upper 60s at the house, I knew from experience that up on the levee there would be those occasional cold blasts of moist river-chilled air rolling across our path.  As it turned out, there was another reason I was glad to have worn the arm-warmers today.  As we waited at "The Pipes" for the rest of the crew to arrive, Max rode up and commented that a few miles upriver the road was soaking wet in a wheel-spray kind of way.  Go figure.  The forecast had included only the usual precautionary 10% rain chance, but it was looking like all ten percent was going to be on top of us at some point. So despite the cloudy sky and dampness, we had a pretty big group this morning. Starting out with a bit of a tailwind, I was worried things might get out of hand again, but for some reason the pace remained brisk but steady.  I don't know who all was up at the front, but whoever they were, they weren't rotating back to where I was.  I guess someone up ahead must have been short-circuiting the paceline because we were probably fifteen miles up the river before I finally found myself near the front.  All morning we'd been riding through patches of wet road and misty drizzle, but it wasn't until we were halfway back that the misty stuff turned into what you'd actually call rain.  A couple of miles later I could feel the water starting to come through my shoes.  That's really the point of no return when it comes to riding in the rain.  Once your shoes and socks get soaked, you may as well just keep going until you get home because slowing down or, heaven forbid, stopping will just make you colder.  Fortunately most of the riders were happy with a fairly smooth pace, although there were certainly a few momentary instances of passive paceline aggression on the way back where someone ramps up the pace a notch and then nobody will pull through afterward.  Situation normal, however.

So here we are officially halfway through December and the Ginkgo trees have finally decided it's Fall.  They are easy to spot with their neon-yellow leaves, but you have to look fast because the next time there's a bit of wind all the leaves will fall at once and the display will be over for another year.