Pushing the Pedals

Sunday afternoon Nils called me and asked if I was up for a bike ride.  Sure!

I knew I wanted to check out slimmer saddles so we agreed to meet at Quad Cycles in Arlinton and do like a 25-30 mile loops out the MinuteMan Bike Path and toward Acton.

As I drove over to the bike shop I took note of the wind.  The trees were swaying and stuff was really blowing around.  HMMM  The sky didn’t look great.  Big, dark, patchy clouds.  I continued the few miles drive toward the bike shop.  Same sky.  I googled weather for Arlington and Acton.  The little picture said Sunday with the picture for Thunderstorms.  BLECH. 🙁

I called Nils and said the sky looks foreboding and he said that we should just go out and see what happens.  ok.

I got my saddle swapped out with something slimmer and bought the chamois butter.  Quad Cycles did set me up with a 10% discount (in the computer) because I am doing Team in Training … just have to give my last name from now on when I am there.  Sweet.

Nils arrived and we headed out.  We were flying.  My computer was reading between 17 and 22 mph as we wove through people and intersections.  Nils is fun to ride with — but he’s such a boy.  He’s fearless.  I feel like a big fat pansy riding with him.  But, he’s also very considerate and if I get screwed at an intersection he slows down and waits, etc.

Around the 95/128 overpass we start to feel some raindrops.  We get to Bedford and the sky looks worse to the west.  So, we decide that we should just spin around and if it’s not raining further east we could continue toward fresh pond and back.  We laughed and agreed that some riding was better than no riding.

And, then the skys opened up.  BAM.  Pouring rain.  They don’t call road bike tired “slicks” for nothing.  No sudden movements, no swerving, no fast braking.  Roads get slippery and bikes get dangerous.  Road bikes don’t have fenders.  Welcome to road sludge up your backside — even onto your neck and in your hair.  I had to take my sunglasses off because it was just too dark.  Water was everywhere and slid down my face into my eyes. 

I am really allergic to pollen.  All the water that was falling off the trees and onto me and all over my face did a number on me.  Pollen rain water in my eyes.  Ouchie.

Nils peeled off at Park Ave and rode home while I pedalled back toward my car at Quad Cycles.  I got there and assessed myself.

Wet?  Check
Cold?  Check
Road grime and foliage stuck to my legs and arms?  Check
Filthy bike?  Check
Everything I own soaking wet?  Check

(ok you get the picture.  It was pretty darn miserable.)

However.  That will not be my last or only time riding in the rain.  So I better get used to it and better at it, too.  In the future, though, I hope to have made some better equipment choices.  Like rain gear.

So we rode a hasty 1o – 12 miles in about 45 minutes and called it a day.

**GNAT ATTACK on the way to Bedford: 
We passed through the foresty section before the overpass and the swarms of gnats were thick and nasty.  Imagine, we were going 20 mph — I looked! — and it took us like 15-30 + seconds to fully pass through the gnats.  I was spitting and sputtering and you could feel them pelting your skin and face.  We had to pass through them again on the way back, but at that point it was POURING rain and so they were less fierce.  When I got back to my car I took my bike jersey off (I had a tshirt and sports bra underneath) because it was soaking wet and caked in road dirt.  My t-shirt underneath was covered in gnats!  When I got home and went to shower I discovered tons of gnats on my skin under my sports bra.  YUCK YUCK YUCK.  It was then that I started to accurately contemplate just how many of those tiny pests I’d likely ingested.  *gag*

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