Here Comes the Rain Again

It's not the Eurhythnmics; it's just Eric and Russ acting a little bit more like Annie Lenox than either is really comfortable with.

Saturday, 10 February was a super wet day. We knew we had to avoid the mud-nure in between Harry Road and ST Park, so we entered into ST via a new entrance for Russ, an old standby for Eric.

It was raining pretty hard when we got going, but fortunately it was about 64 degrees, and frankly, it felt great. It's not hard to imagine how we'll be begging for a day like this once July and August roll around.

We started here and then climbed up Bernal toward IBM. As we ascended, Eric made a bold prediction that the Rangers would be waiting at the top to tell us the trails were closed. Sure enough, just as we crested the hill, a Ranger drove right by us and parked in the lot to make sure we didn't hit the trails. This is a new procedure installed this year to protect the trails and the hefty investment made in them during the recent past. When the trails are wet, they are susceptible to irreparable damage at the hands of Mountain bikers and horses... so says the Ranger and county policy makers. Eric and Russ remain skeptical that the trail closures are a necessity. Feels like maybe just a bit of an overreaction.

So, we made the most of it and had a great time. We climbed up Bernal to IBM and then flew down the other side to Harry Road. Russ' max speed was 34.2 mph, and Eric's was, of course, a bit faster. Flying down those hills with the rain pounding your face is quite an experience. By the time we hit the bottom, our shoes and gloves were drenched.

Once at Harry, we hopped onto Camden and hit the single track that runs along Camden from Villagewood Way all the way to South Hills. After a very quick break we headed back the way we came, spraying mud, blasting through puddles, and knifing through the rain. We probably each gained about 10 pounds of water - Russ could actually ring his glove out just by making a tight fist. Our feet sloshed around in our shoes, and our clothes were saturated.

When it was all said and done, we'd gone 13 miles at an average pace of 8.5 mph - about 91 minutes of total time elapsed - a symmetrical 45.5 out and 45.5 back to the vehicles. We had a total ascent of 1300 feet, not a bad day's work, especially when you consider it would have been very easy to pack it in and say, "Aw forget it; it's too wet out there."

My bike's wiped down, shoes are dry, and the chain is lubed - ready for the next outing.