Relative Something

A short time after the Katy Trail bike trip four friends and I did in Missouri in September got cut short by flooding rain, I suggested an alternative ending. Since we weren’t able to finish the last 50 miles of the railroad grade trail, I invited them to come try riding roughly 35 miles of the hills around Wintervale to end our 2026 season of group bicycle rides.

So, it was weeks ago that we whittled down the possible days that all five of us would be available and settled on October 15th. Yesterday. While I waited through day after day of ridiculously hot weather for the countdown to reach 10 days away in order to see the long-range forecast, there was nothing but sunshine.

Finally, by October 5th, I saw that Thursday the 15th was the first day with a chance of rain. To the credit of the weather services, throughout the 9 days I watched that extended forecast dial in, the chance of rain stayed locked on the 15th. While counting the days, I saw the gorgeous fall colors waning as the loss of leaves accelerated.

When it reached two days before the planned ride, the guys and I reached a unanimous decision to cancel and reschedule the ride to next year.

Yesterday, it rained ALL day. It was cold and thoroughly wet. It was just the kind of weather I absolutely do NOT want to pedal a bike in.

At least I got to see that our new rain gauge works really well.

While the horses ate their feed in the minutes before the rain started, Cyndie convinced Mia to accept a rain sheet. Mia was reluctant at first, and her hesitancy triggered Light to stop eating and walk around to check on what was going on. By the time Light arrived, Cyndie had already won Mia’s approval and the covering was on, but we were excited to see Light showing concern for another herd member, especially Mia.

When we went down to feed the horses their afternoon serving, I noticed Paddock Lake was filled to the brim. Now I know that it only takes an inch of rain to fill up that catch basin.

Just for the record, after a lingering chance of rain today, my extended forecast shows no rain for the next 8 days. Maybe I should market my services to farmers during extended droughts. I can schedule an outdoor event at Wintervale, and rain will surely appear.

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