There is an old saying that refers to being "trapped like rats". I'm guessing that's of nautical origin, where a ship is sinking and the rats are caught on board with nowhere to go. We got a little taste of that tonight on the ride.
There were six brave souls there - John T., Miller, Allen, Roy, Scott, and myself. Jimmy bailed with what just may be the weakest excuse ever concocted. He didn't take his bike to work. Tuesday night. He didn't even give himself a chance to ride. If I were a bit less cynical I might not be thinking this was a purposeful act. I am that cynical, and that's exactly what I'm thinking!
This should have been a sign the weather would turn against us. Without our good luck charm, we ordinarily consider ourselves doomed, but you know what? I just didn't care. It's going to rain all week long, and the weather is only going to worsen in the next couple of days. If there was any way humanly possible to get the ride, I was going to do it. Jimmy or no Jimmy.
So we headed out from Allen's church, and of course the further south we went, the worse it looked. Scott began to look back at me at around 7 miles out... it was easy to see the downpour in the southwest just beyond Orleans.
"We knew we were going to get wet the second we left for this ride" says I. Scott lamented he'd spent a couple of hours lubricating his bike and cleaning it up. I felt for him, but it didn't change what I was going to do. "Turn back if you like. If you want to stay dry, now's the time."
We were around half a mile to 337 when the rain started. It was decision time. For a second everyone paused, waiting to see what everyone else would do. "Are we mice or men?!" I shouted, and charged to the fore. That broke the ice, and we moved forward as one group.
I stated at that point my intention to pull out to the county line, anyone wishing to join was welcome. We held 22.6 mph under neutral conditions - the wind was lateral and light. This effort was easy, in fact I was restraining myself quite a bit. It was exactly what I wanted to do - get down in aero and ride smoothly. Since this segment is uphill and I felt no pressure, it gives me a great deal of confidence going into Saturday.
We made a quick turnaround at the line. We had dropped Allen, and the common sentiment was that he had turned early and returned. Just as we started to leave, we spotted his bike. Allen's a trooper! We gave him a second to recover, he said he was ready, and off we went again.
I should say this was more or less the place where I heard the cage door shut. What had been a small cell of rain activity had exploded in the half hour it took us to get where we were. Now the horizon was covered as far as the eye could see north to south with dark, ominous clouds. I was thankful I had not yet heard thunder. We had a chance, a small chance.
Then it thundered. There was nothing for it. We had no choice but to push forward. I was leading again, this time a bit slower because we didn't want to lose anyone. There still was no wind to speak of, or if there was, it might have been a bit helpful. That changed of course as we neared the squall line. We caught the first downburst about 5 miles out of Orleans. From that point on it was a growing headwind from the northwest.
Surprisingly it never rained the whole time we were on 337. Once we turned north, within a mile we were in quickly worsening rain storm. By the time we got to Meridian, it was a stinging downpour with wind severe enough to knock down visibility. It was coming down in sheets! For a few minutes there it even felt as if hail was stinging our skin. Lightning pierced the sky. It was a bit nervous for a few moments.
As we finished, so did the rain, at least temporarily. We packed our bikes, headed to Wendy's, and reaped our rewards.
Back to the Jimmy thing, during the ride I was taking the blame for us getting wet, which probably isn't fair to me at all. It was Jimmy's fault. That sissy. If he would have shown, I'm sure we would have found the window that would have made the weather just good enough to get it all in safely. But nooooooo, he had to "forget" his bike. Sheesh!
Run tomorrow from the lab. Swim Thursday night, 8:15.
There were six brave souls there - John T., Miller, Allen, Roy, Scott, and myself. Jimmy bailed with what just may be the weakest excuse ever concocted. He didn't take his bike to work. Tuesday night. He didn't even give himself a chance to ride. If I were a bit less cynical I might not be thinking this was a purposeful act. I am that cynical, and that's exactly what I'm thinking!
This should have been a sign the weather would turn against us. Without our good luck charm, we ordinarily consider ourselves doomed, but you know what? I just didn't care. It's going to rain all week long, and the weather is only going to worsen in the next couple of days. If there was any way humanly possible to get the ride, I was going to do it. Jimmy or no Jimmy.
So we headed out from Allen's church, and of course the further south we went, the worse it looked. Scott began to look back at me at around 7 miles out... it was easy to see the downpour in the southwest just beyond Orleans.
"We knew we were going to get wet the second we left for this ride" says I. Scott lamented he'd spent a couple of hours lubricating his bike and cleaning it up. I felt for him, but it didn't change what I was going to do. "Turn back if you like. If you want to stay dry, now's the time."
We were around half a mile to 337 when the rain started. It was decision time. For a second everyone paused, waiting to see what everyone else would do. "Are we mice or men?!" I shouted, and charged to the fore. That broke the ice, and we moved forward as one group.
I stated at that point my intention to pull out to the county line, anyone wishing to join was welcome. We held 22.6 mph under neutral conditions - the wind was lateral and light. This effort was easy, in fact I was restraining myself quite a bit. It was exactly what I wanted to do - get down in aero and ride smoothly. Since this segment is uphill and I felt no pressure, it gives me a great deal of confidence going into Saturday.
We made a quick turnaround at the line. We had dropped Allen, and the common sentiment was that he had turned early and returned. Just as we started to leave, we spotted his bike. Allen's a trooper! We gave him a second to recover, he said he was ready, and off we went again.
I should say this was more or less the place where I heard the cage door shut. What had been a small cell of rain activity had exploded in the half hour it took us to get where we were. Now the horizon was covered as far as the eye could see north to south with dark, ominous clouds. I was thankful I had not yet heard thunder. We had a chance, a small chance.
Then it thundered. There was nothing for it. We had no choice but to push forward. I was leading again, this time a bit slower because we didn't want to lose anyone. There still was no wind to speak of, or if there was, it might have been a bit helpful. That changed of course as we neared the squall line. We caught the first downburst about 5 miles out of Orleans. From that point on it was a growing headwind from the northwest.
Surprisingly it never rained the whole time we were on 337. Once we turned north, within a mile we were in quickly worsening rain storm. By the time we got to Meridian, it was a stinging downpour with wind severe enough to knock down visibility. It was coming down in sheets! For a few minutes there it even felt as if hail was stinging our skin. Lightning pierced the sky. It was a bit nervous for a few moments.
As we finished, so did the rain, at least temporarily. We packed our bikes, headed to Wendy's, and reaped our rewards.
Back to the Jimmy thing, during the ride I was taking the blame for us getting wet, which probably isn't fair to me at all. It was Jimmy's fault. That sissy. If he would have shown, I'm sure we would have found the window that would have made the weather just good enough to get it all in safely. But nooooooo, he had to "forget" his bike. Sheesh!
Run tomorrow from the lab. Swim Thursday night, 8:15.
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