Warmer, Wetter, Colder

Finally fixing the pot hole that caused the crash back on July 14th. Better late than never, I guess.

It's that time of year. Every morning it's like a whole new weather adventure.

On Wednesday I rode out to meet the WeMoRi in humid 59° air. The streets were still damp, but at least there was no rain around. Based on the forecast, I'd expected it to be dangerously foggy, so despite the warm temperature I'd put on a vest, shoe-covers, and long tights since I just knew I'd be wet. It wasn't very foggy at all, however, and by the time I got out to City Park the vest was already in my pocket, the jersey was un-zipped, and I was wishing I hadn't worn a base layer. Out on Lakeshore Drive I switched my tail light from retina-burning mode to group-ride mode and rode back and forth between the bridge and the levee a couple of times, passing one of the guys who had already flatted. I saw Sam come flying by with the group in not-too-hot pursuit. I slotted in toward the front with a nice little easterly tailwind, cruising over the bridge. We approached the wet left turn onto Marconi at 25 mph, and as I crossed the slick metal floodgate track I felt my front wheel slide a good foot or two before thankfully grabbing the asphalt on the other side. We passed Kenneth Legeai on the side of the road fixing a flat. A minute later, on Robert E. Lee, two riders bumped each other right in front of me. I thought for sure one of them was going  down and took quick evasive action, but luckily they both kept it upright. Sam was still way off the front, but for me, entirely out of sight and out of mind. We came back together at the end of Marconi, but then Sam took off again with a couple others who he soon dropped, and it stayed that way. At the end, Chris went to the front early and dragged us up to 30 mph for a long time before a few riders sprinted past at the last moment.

It was 4 am this morning and I could hear the rain falling outside. I hadn't been expecting that. The temperature was 63°, however, and when the clock finally got around to 5:45 am I could see the rain had stopped. The streets, of course, were soaking wet and full of puddles. Perfect conditions for the rain bike. Shorts, summer jersey, and shoe-covers. I headed out to the levee where, predictably, nobody showed up, and headed out with the idea that I might make it nearly to Ormond before the clock forced me to turn back. The bike path was soaked, of course, but with fenders and shoe-covers and new tires with Mr. Tuffy's I just plowed through the puddles with reckless abandon. Here and there were stretches of thick fog where the southeast wind was blowing it off the river and over the levee. I was maybe a mile past Williams Blvd when I saw the police patrol car with flashing lights coming toward me. As I approached, he waved me down and told me that the road just ahead was closed. I'd already passed a number of sections of repaired asphalt, so wasn't too surprised to find more work going on, although I wasn't too happy about the whole path being closed thing. Neither was the police officer who had apparently not been informed about it either. Anyway, I had to turn back early because of that, and so rode all the way back to Audubon Park where I put in one lap on the bike lane before heading back home. It was nice to be riding bare-legged for a change, but it won't last. This south wind will be shifting around to the west and northwest tonight and tomorrow morning, and the forecast for 6 am seems to be changing from hour to hour. Right now it's looking like the colder air and heaviest rain will hit around midnight, with the temperature dropping down into the 40s by 7 am. A high of 74° today, and a high of 49° tomorrow. We won't be back into the 50s until Monday. They've got the rain probability fluctuating between 10 and 25% until 9:00 tomorrow, so I guess anything could happen. Most likely the streets will still be wet, though, so it may be another ride on the trusty rain bike.

The weekend is looking like it will be clear and pretty cold. Saturday morning's forecast is at 33-34° with a 13-18 mph north wind right now, which is not conducive to a good Giro Ride turnout. They have it dropping down to 29° on Saturday, so Sunday morning might be around 35° here and in the upper 20s on the northshore. I'm guessing the Sunday northshore Winter Training Ride won't have any takers, but I'll wait until tomorrow to make the call on that.