Long rides in "tropical" storms

Today is Saturday, which of course means getting on my bike for a good, long time, just like almost every other Saturday. The not so good news leading up to today was that there was a tropical storm headed for New England. Great. Riding my bike in the rain is definitely not one of my favorite things to do, although I consider it a necessary evil. That is especially because I consider riding in the rain less evil than riding my trainer inside and avoiding it. I'd rather get soaked than pedal for hours and not get anywhere. The only good news in the situation was that it appeared that the further north you went, the less horrible the storm might be. So it worked out fine for me to once again spend the weekend at my parents place up on Squam Lake.

I got up at 5:30 this morning after going to bed at about 8:45 due to complete exhaustion and then spending a few wakeful moments trying to tune out the sound of the wind and rain outside my window. It was pitch black out at that hour, another sign that summer is coming to a close as not too long ago it would've been bright and sunny by then, but at least it kept me from needing to rush. When the daylight started to illuminate things through the clouds I could see the lake looked like a nice, stormy day on the ocean. The wind looked pretty harsh and it was only in the low 50's. Two weeks ago on my long ride I just wanted to make sure I finished up before it hit the lower 90's. It's amazing how quick things can change.

Most of the time when I go out and ride in the rain I just try to ignore the fact that it is raining. This is one of the reasons why I actually prefer to do these kinds of rides alone - the other reason being it's not fun to ride on someone's wheel when the road is wet, as their wheel just kicks up water and road debris in your face. I often find that others will spend much of these kinds of rides talking about how annoying it is that it's raining. Yes, of course it would be better if the sun was out, but it really isn't that bad if you just put your head down and pedal along like you always do. Oh, and be sure to be extra careful on downhills and sharp corners, but other than that, just suck it up and do it. It also helps to just remind yourself that at the end of the day, you will be warm and clean and dry, hopefully sitting with your feet up, and eventually it will all be over.

I've been mercilessly spared lately from riding in horrible weather, so I guess I was due. Sometimes it poured, sometimes it only drizzled, and rarely was the wind ever really all that terrible, so all things considered, it could've been a whole lot worse. That was another thing that made me feel better, knowing that however bad the weather was going to be today, I was 99.9% sure that I'd definitely been out in worse. I was right about that, for sure. While temperatures in the low 50's aren't exactly toasty, it sure beats a rainy day in the 30's, something I have some experience with. It's also not so much fun riding by houses and by the smell knowing that they actually started a fire, in August. I'm not ready for that yet.

Needless to say, I did not pass another cyclist while I was out today. I did pass several runners though, and I was reminded that although a cold Powerbar is a lot easier to unwrap on the fly, it is also a whole lot harder to chew. After 6 hours, just like I knew would happen, the ride was over. It poured extra hard for about the last 15 minutes, just to make sure I was extra anxious to get off that bike. But like always, the day never ends with a bike ride, and it was time to head out for a nice, hour-long transition run. My favorite method of mentally dealing with this one when I'd really rather just go straight into a nice, hot shower, is in the grand scheme of this long workout, what's another hour? Almost nothing. Just run out for 30 minutes, turn around and come home. So that's what I did. I was cold and wet and had to face a mean headwind on the last mile, but it was over pretty quick, and I actually felt pretty good after all of that running in heat and humidity I'd been doing. Now if only I didn't have to clean up my bike before I could finally go inside and stay inside, but I knew I'd be happier having it done right away rather than forcing myself back outside sometime later. And my non-rusty chain would surely thank me.

So now I am just how I envisioned: clean, warm and dry after a long, hot shower and now decked out in nice, warm clothes and even socks for the first time in a long time in a non-workout situation. Luckily this horrible weather is only going to stick around for the remainder of today. Because while I can mentally deal with a rainy ride every now and then, I definitely start to lose it when it happens all the time. You probably only have to go check out my entries from June, the sunless month, to get an idea on that one. In spite of it all, upon my finishing and shivering while I downed my post-workout Endurox, I finally realized that spending 7 hours wet and cold is still better than getting a real job!