Beating the system.
08-02-21, 07:44 AM
#26
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Yesterday I became aware that it was going to rain today so I planned on a day off from cycling. I did some shopping this morning and noticed it was not raining yet, so I checked the weather report and discovered that it was not going to rain as soon as originally reported. I decided to take a rolling day off. I would ride my usual 50-mile distance at touring pace. I have done this before and burned more calories than a regular ride probably because I am out there longer.
I started slowly and stayed slow; it was an incredibly enjoyable experience. I never got anywhere near oxygen debt in my lungs or lactic acid in my legs. I used granny gears on the hills and just spun like I was riding on clouds. I knew rain was coming but I never felt pressure to ride faster and just grooved on the ride. I could hear the tires humming on the road and the chain and gears were like music. The air was not pushing against me, it was caressing me. It felt like gravity had taken a vacation.
At about the 45-mile point a misty spray alerted me to impending rain. I was tempted to hit the throttle, but it was so glorious that I just kept the same pace. I told myself that I have been wet before and was prepared to be wet again. The gods were with me, and I got to my house dry.
I went up the three stairs and stood on my porch seconds before a downpour dumped buckets of rain on my walk. The splendor of the incident was so remarkable that I stood there on the porch and just watched the storm. With one hand on my dry bike and the other on the porch railing I thanked the gods for allowing me to beat the system once again.
I started slowly and stayed slow; it was an incredibly enjoyable experience. I never got anywhere near oxygen debt in my lungs or lactic acid in my legs. I used granny gears on the hills and just spun like I was riding on clouds. I knew rain was coming but I never felt pressure to ride faster and just grooved on the ride. I could hear the tires humming on the road and the chain and gears were like music. The air was not pushing against me, it was caressing me. It felt like gravity had taken a vacation.
At about the 45-mile point a misty spray alerted me to impending rain. I was tempted to hit the throttle, but it was so glorious that I just kept the same pace. I told myself that I have been wet before and was prepared to be wet again. The gods were with me, and I got to my house dry.
I went up the three stairs and stood on my porch seconds before a downpour dumped buckets of rain on my walk. The splendor of the incident was so remarkable that I stood there on the porch and just watched the storm. With one hand on my dry bike and the other on the porch railing I thanked the gods for allowing me to beat the system once again.
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08-02-21, 08:03 AM
#27
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In those circumstances, I would have just done my ride on Zwift. This is a nice story though, glad it worked out and you didn't have to force the pace to stay dry!
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08-02-21, 09:04 AM
#28
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Though without all the drama, a couple riding buddies have been doing about that for the past couple months, to the tune of about 275 miles/week. They're in their mid-60s, you know, kids. They decided to quit hard group rides and just go play on their bikes. They've done all the local hard climbing rides, just really slowly. I think that's a good thing to do once in a while.
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08-02-21, 09:20 AM
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Though without all the drama, a couple riding buddies have been doing about that for the past couple months, to the tune of about 275 miles/week. They're in their mid-60s, you know, kids. They decided to quit hard group rides and just go play on their bikes. They've done all the local hard climbing rides, just really slowly. I think that's a good thing to do once in a while.
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08-02-21, 11:38 AM
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Timing is everything, and sometimes we just luck out, amiright?
This happened on my weekly group ride last Wednesday. As we set out, there were gray clouds looming to the west, the direction we planned to ride. I was almost certain we'd encounter either rain or strong winds. By halfway into our 22 mile loop, the wind had picked up a bit, but not too severely. When we got back to our starting point, roads were quite wet, with puddles everywhere. But the rain completely missed us. If we'd started 20 minutes earlier or later, we'd probably have gotten wet (either at the end or beginning of our ride). That's how localized storms can be around here. The rain here often pops up suddenly, comes down hard, and then quickly ends. It's less common for us to get gradual, predictable storms.
Yesterday, I took my dog for a walk, about 3 miles. It was pleasant until the last 1/8 mile. Then a downpour hit us and we got completely soaked just before arriving back at home. Win some and lose some.
This happened on my weekly group ride last Wednesday. As we set out, there were gray clouds looming to the west, the direction we planned to ride. I was almost certain we'd encounter either rain or strong winds. By halfway into our 22 mile loop, the wind had picked up a bit, but not too severely. When we got back to our starting point, roads were quite wet, with puddles everywhere. But the rain completely missed us. If we'd started 20 minutes earlier or later, we'd probably have gotten wet (either at the end or beginning of our ride). That's how localized storms can be around here. The rain here often pops up suddenly, comes down hard, and then quickly ends. It's less common for us to get gradual, predictable storms.
Yesterday, I took my dog for a walk, about 3 miles. It was pleasant until the last 1/8 mile. Then a downpour hit us and we got completely soaked just before arriving back at home. Win some and lose some.
08-02-21, 11:51 AM
#31
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Well, one thing is for sure - deciding in advance that the weather is likelly to be bad means that you will miss plenty of really great good weather rides.
Lots of times, the forecast for the following morning is miserable. I still set my alarm and when I wake up, sometimes it's as predicted and sometimes not.
Lots of times, for an afternoon or evening ride, it looks like rain is coming. Sometimes it hits, sometimes it doesn't.
If I preemptively decided to not ride at all the times when it seemed like it might rain, I'd miss out on many rides.
Better to get a little wet now and again then to quit in advance. Or even a lot wet.
Very serious thunderstorms and tornado watches are different.
Lots of times, the forecast for the following morning is miserable. I still set my alarm and when I wake up, sometimes it's as predicted and sometimes not.
Lots of times, for an afternoon or evening ride, it looks like rain is coming. Sometimes it hits, sometimes it doesn't.
If I preemptively decided to not ride at all the times when it seemed like it might rain, I'd miss out on many rides.
Better to get a little wet now and again then to quit in advance. Or even a lot wet.
Very serious thunderstorms and tornado watches are different.
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08-02-21, 11:59 AM
#32
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A good number of people in my club are quick to cancel rides due to the possibility of rain. What really amazes me is that some of them don't know how to understand a forecast. Something like a 9 am, 40 mile ride will get cancelled because of the threat of scattered, mid to late afternoon showers.
08-02-21, 12:53 PM
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Wind direction & MPH of the wind is more important to me than a cloud tinkle.
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08-03-21, 07:27 AM
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"She's visiting me for the weekend, although I must admit were are both bored out of our skulls. Al least my roommate went home to visit her parents, so we have my room to ourselves. Now if we could just figure out how to liven things up around here. Have any ideas?"
08-03-21, 08:15 AM
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Well, one thing is for sure - deciding in advance that the weather is likelly to be bad means that you will miss plenty of really great good weather rides.
Lots of times, the forecast for the following morning is miserable. I still set my alarm and when I wake up, sometimes it's as predicted and sometimes not.
Lots of times, for an afternoon or evening ride, it looks like rain is coming. Sometimes it hits, sometimes it doesn't.
If I preemptively decided to not ride at all the times when it seemed like it might rain, I'd miss out on many rides.
Better to get a little wet now and again then to quit in advance. Or even a lot wet.
Very serious thunderstorms and tornado watches are different.
Lots of times, the forecast for the following morning is miserable. I still set my alarm and when I wake up, sometimes it's as predicted and sometimes not.
Lots of times, for an afternoon or evening ride, it looks like rain is coming. Sometimes it hits, sometimes it doesn't.
If I preemptively decided to not ride at all the times when it seemed like it might rain, I'd miss out on many rides.
Better to get a little wet now and again then to quit in advance. Or even a lot wet.
Very serious thunderstorms and tornado watches are different.
08-03-21, 08:46 AM
#37
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Well, no. What those folks are doing is riding 50-60 miles 5 days/week, every week, nothing long or exhausting, no pain. Rando is rather the opposite. Of course they could take a week off and then ride a 400k brevet or permanent, but that's not the same thing.
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08-03-21, 11:20 AM
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Rando isn't painful; just boring. 
08-08-21, 05:45 AM
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