I had packed the rain coat and pants just in case the night’s steady rain arrived early and was hoping to get lots of miles in the promised morning sunshine. By 0900 MST I was wondering when I might see the sun, and by 0930 I was thinking the skies looked like rain. Sure enough, within a couple of minutes I was getting sprinkled on. About an hour later as I reached the top of “Little Freezeout” I determined I was soaked, and it was time to put on that rain gear I really don’t enjoy (it really doesn’t “breath” as promised), but just as I pulled off the road, the drizzle seemed to stop. I sped down the short grade and continued downhill to Letha, a country store about 8 miles away where I found I was again dry. Wet roads slowed me down a bit, but the fenders kept the road’s water off me and the bike. By noon I was dry and enjoying a snack at Letha but wondering where the promised “morning sunshine” was and thinking if that was the “good” part of the weekend what did the afternoon hold?
By the time I was back on the floor of the Boise Valley, there was standing water on the roadways again, and I could see I was chasing a small storm that had just come thru. It seemed stalled against the Bogus front, so I got rained my last 10 miles. Since I knew my warm home awaited at the end of those 10 miles, I didn’t bother with the rain gear. Practicing Corrie’s good habits, I hosed the bike off in the back yard and dried it on the covered patio before taking off my wet clothes. Didn’t the horse always get that kind of care at the end of the ride before the rider took his own comforts?
Seeing no ride invites this weekend, I'm guessing Lewiston's forecast was a glum as ours and kept most of you inside!
Given the weather forecast here for the rest of the weekend, getting drizzled on for a couple of hours in a century was definitely worth it. Would it be worth it if that road grime were splashing up on me in addition to the water from the sky hitting me? I guess I’ll have to ask Corrie to find the answer to that. How many bikes without fenders do you own, Corrie?
