12 February 2009 - 17:14Whatever it takes

I never would have thought that a delicate flower such as myself would head out on a bike ride in the rain. In February. Well it happened.

It used to be that if there was even a single cloud in the sky, I’d call a ride. I had a lot to get done at the shop, and a puppy to tire out, but I stayed focused and got everything done that I needed to. I walked the pup early in the morning up in the Waterworks Trails, and was amazed to find that it was almost 10° warmer up in the hills than the valley floor. The sky had big sloppy brush strokes of blue that appeared to be getting larger.

OK, focus.

Tire the dog out for an hour

Ship some orders

Take some phone calls

E-mail some quotes

WOW! it’s 56°! And it’s still sunny!

At 2:30 I left the shop to bring Seamus home, I still don’t think he’s ready to be left unsupervised out of his crate. I got my riding things and went back to the shop. I noticed it was getting dark. I took my sunglasses off, and saw that it was in fact getting really dark. And cold. hmmmm…

Well, I was ready, and I was going to go for a ride. Just for a little bit.

By now it was raining, but just a barely. I headed out on River Road with my ultimate goal reaching Jonesville 8 miles away. The ride is not so much as flat as it is rolling, and one is guaranteed an annoying headwind on one half of the ride. I rode my Van Dessel Gin & Trombones. As I turned onto River Road, it was a steady drizzle, I figured I’d ride to the dam and see how I felt about things then.

Once I reached the turn off, I decided I could go a little further. I’d reassess things at the Camel’s Hump Road turn off. It was at this point, I found I was already wet. Luckily I had dressed appropriately, so I kept on going. Wool is awesome! By the time I reached Jonesville, it was pouring, and I was halfway through my ride. And DAMN! there’s that headwind!

Still feeling pretty good, I turned around and picked up a good cadence and just turned the pedals over and over. Sometimes, I feel like I actually ride a little better in adverse conditions. The ride was about 50% dirt road, which was downright scary at times. The parts that weren’t glorpy mud, were a hard surface that looked like asphalt, but was actually solid ice. There was a little slip and slide happening, just to make sure those core muscles got worked too.

Fortunately, no one was hurt, but there was this one time where I got two complete crank revolutions where I had zero traction on the rear wheel going up a hill.

Other than that, it was good. The equipment functioned perfectly. The wheelset on my G&T is a Royale Cross wheelset that we’ll be offering on BikeCX. I feel it’s proven itself worthy for prime time. I was running the Schwalbe Racing Ralph 700x35c tire tubeless on a Stan’s 355 rim, the air pressure was dead on for today’s ride at 25psi.

So apparently, all it takes is a ride in the rain to beat the winter doldrums. Being cold, wet and muddy somehow makes being inside seem slightly more acceptable.

And I have to say I’d do it again in a heartbeat.