Relative Something

If ever weather, and its incongruity with what forecasters predicted, could impact a day, yesterday was a classic example. Our gang of cyclists were all prepared for a sunny day in the 80-85° F range, yet the day dawned with a hard-to-read white overcast. A glance at the satellite image had me thinking we were just on the edge of clearing and sunny blue skies would be appearing any moment.

Not long after we set off in the morning, the color of the sky began to take on a darker hue. It was hard to read, though. It didn’t appear defined enough to discern whether it was coming or going. We rode on. Then a few raindrops painted the pavement. It still wasn’t clear if we were going to dodge getting a soaking, or not. We were approaching a town near a logical time for a break and a glimpse of a flash in the sky affirmed our plan to head for cover.

We leaned our bikes on the side of a McDonald’s restaurant and stepped inside, just as the now inevitable deluge let loose. A lightning and thunder downpour became the center of attention for about an hour and a half of our biking adventure. Luckily, we had Sarah along who was a wonderful second, in terms of center of attention. We made good use of the shelter provided in the area of the McDonald’s play room.

Eventually, the rain moved on and we emerged from the shelter to resume our trek. We were entirely successful at avoiding riding in the rain, but we were at the mercy of riding in the wet that immediately follows a good downpour. The wet means more debris sticks to the tires which, in our case, led to 2 flats, surprisingly, to the same wheel of the same bike. Finally, the ultimate insult to having successfully dodged riding in the rain, the wetness of the road and the dirt and debris on the otherwise wonderful trail sprayed up, painting everything with grime.

Those relatively minor inconveniences were tempered by the eventual clearing blue sky, warm sunshine, the ease of rinsing legs, bikes, and trailer with a garden hose, followed by a fantastic homemade feast amid laughter and fellowship at the home of our lovely host, Laura. This cycle adventure goes down as another one to be measured as ‘priceless’ in our collection of many similar trips this group of amazing friends have enjoyed together.