Almost

On the last day of the last month of 2016 I pulled the bike down off its hook and rolled it out into the darkness. The forecast on weather.com was somewhat at odds with the reality above me, and I wondered if my last ride of the year would end up being a very short one.  The Garmin seemed to be stuck in "working" mode, probably updating its firmware, so I started Strava on my phone.  It wouldn't do to have the last ride of the year go unrecorded. It was about ten minutes before the Garmin started recording and about fifteen when a light rain started to fall.  I was most of the way to Starbucks already, and the rain was really light, so I pressed on, lured by the promise of that cup of hot Christmas Blend.  I'd dressed for temperatures in the 50s, despite the thermometer reading that was closer to 65.  I was expecting to get wet, the only questions being "when, how much, and for how long?"

At Starbucks there were just a couple of riders when I arrived, one of whom was one of the Nth Degree Juniors.  Ed and Stanton had arranged for a few of them to ride their first Giro Rides this morning.  I sat under the canvas awning listening to the raindrops and sipping my coffee as I checked the radar.  This little shower would be past us soon, so we'd at least be able to get in a few miles.  Rob had already bailed, but other riders started to arrive and by the time we were heading east on Lakeshore Drive there was a decent enough group.  Everyone in the group was award of the Juniors, which helped to keep the pace smooth and manageable.  Ed did a couple of pre-announced 5-minute intervals, and Jaden rode off the front a few times, but otherwise it was a very civilized Giro. We were almost back to the Casino bridge on the way back when it finally started to rain.  Fortunately it was a very light rain.

After the last of the group turned off on Harrison to finish their rides at Starbucks I continued alone on my way back home thinking, "Well, I almost made it back without getting wet."  Almost.  By then I was wet enough to be glad I'd over-dressed that morning but I never got wet enough to soak my socks all the way through, so the timing almost worked out perfectly.  Almost.

Almost 12,000

Back at home I uploaded the ride to Strava and checked my total 2016 mileage.  11,913 miles.  Almost 12k.  Almost. Still, a pretty decent year mileage-wise, comparable with recent years despite a missed week early in the year when I was sick and a number of missed weekends due to officiating or Tulane Cycling road trips.  Considering that I don't make any particular effort to accumulate a specific number of annual miles, it's kind of amazing how similar the past few years have been.  Tomorrow we're looking at a 50% chance of rain most of the day, so whether or not 2017 will start with a ride is going to be up in the air.