Monday, March 8, 2010

RAIN RAIN RAIN





Sunday 3/7 Jacumba - Brawley 66.5 miles

Well my secret vow to ride every mile and never get in the SAG lasted 2 days! Not Bad! My will to live was stronger than the prospect of a 13 mile, 6 percent grade down hill on I8 in the pouring rain with the chance of "DANGEROUS CROSSWINDS" as the road sign said. All but two hardy souls (Pam and Karen) sagged the first 15 miles. we were dropped

off at the end of the I8 ride and started out in driving rain and cold. Rain subsided a bit and we were on a 22 mile straightaway through the desert. I was cruising at 24mph thinking to myself what a strong rider I have become and then when we all met at the SAG everyone said- “wow what about those tailwinds “ so i’m just the same steady on, not too fast rider I’ve always been. After SAG stop turned into a crosswind and 14 nasty - miles of really rough pavement - shoulder and road with lots of rain. Made it to Wendy’s with 6 other drowned rats as the town of El Centro seemed to be flooding where Karen’s quote for the day seemed appropriate...”this would be the time to say, what was I thinking” another soggy 13 miles into Brawley for a grand total of 52 wet miles.When we arrived at hotel we hosed down bikes with garden hose to remove amazing amounts of road gunk and then wiped down , lubed and wiped down again--thank you Jim Gasper because we know that a clean bike is a happy bike!

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