The Art of Outracing The Rain (with apologies to Garth Stein)
My day didn't involve a Golden Retriever, a sports car and a tragic storyline. All well and good when you are writing a best seller, but in my case my day was written as a simple blog entry involving a fast bike, a fast moving pursuit of nasty rain clouds, and 24 miles in which to figure out who will win.
(Hint: I did, but only by a nose)
I hadn't been able to ride my bike near as much as I needed due to an endless array of excuses. Some valid, most not. But I have a charity bike ride looming on the weekend horizon, and I am desperately in need of some cycle time to tell me if I should do the half century ride I'm signed up for, or switch to the family fun 20 mile ride that is less strenuous, doesn't require me to carry my extra battery because the lesser distance doesn't have of the endless hills of the century/half century, and has some great views in an area I've yet to see.
Today I had 2 hours to give myself for a ride. Before I pulled my bike from the garage and pumped the tires, a glance at the immense towering stacks of cumulous nimbus clouds crowding the depressingly humid skies suggested a glance at the radar might also be a good idea. Areas to the south and west were huddled under some heavy rain storms, but my area was still showing bits of blue sky. A fast 25 miles promised to get me around the block and home before I got any wetter than just my own sweat.
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I took off on the Class 3 for my favorite paved road loop into the county below. Being mid afternoon there was little traffic asking to share the road and so the vistas and countryside was mine alone to ride, photograph, and enjoy.
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Most of my route would follow the line of the Blue Ridge where the footpath of the 2,000+ mile long Appalachian Trail threaded the crest heading north to Maine and south to Georgia. Lately I've been reading the blogs of several through "nobo" hikers ("northbound" abbreviated in their unique lingo), enjoying their daily ramblings (both physical and written). It was amazing to me how so many could find such a plethora of unique adjectives day after day to describe what amounted to the exact same walk over the same type of terrain day after day. Rather like a bike ride over the same types of roads. How many times can you say the same thing and still keep it fresh? How many times can you eleoquat one foot after another stepping over a rocky trail, or pushing a bike pedal around and around, before there are no more words to describe it differently.
I found we do the same thing, those many solitary people that were hiking the crest of the mountains to my side while I biked the roads a thousand feet below them. We looked at the clouds. We watched our path, our route for potholes and tripping hazards. We greeted fellow travelers along the way be they nobo or sobo. They at least stopped to chat or fell into step for a while along the way. I remained solo, exchanging quick greetings with any other cyclist along the way. And all of us together attempted to outrace the incoming rain. They, at least, had dawn to dusk to walk their average distance of 25 miles of trail, and numerous trail shelters to use should the weather become nasty. I only had speed, wheels, and 2 hours.
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Still I did take time to photograph, and also take a quick detour to stop in at a cemetery enroute in Upperville and bring a sprig of flowers to lay on the stone of an old endurance riding friend, reflecting on our years together riding and training our horses on that same mountain that is the keystone of the hiking blogs.
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I noticed that one of the old dwellings in the town had been honored with a sign, which looked quite nice and certainly dressed the old building with a nod to its historic past. The town is comprised of old historic buildings. Nothing new as there is no room to build, and every inhabitant takes pride in owning and maintaining the centuries old dwellings that exist within the confines of those narrow town lines.
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As I tucked my camera away I noticed the clouds closing in from the west and south had gained more troops, many threatening severe rains. I glanced at the radar and saw with growing alarm that my time was running out. For sure the hikers along the trail at the top of the mountain had already taken refuge as the rains had reached there sooner and were viciously pounded the summit. The valley below where I stood was the next target. It was time to go.
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I had two choices. One - take the highway out of town and do all paved roads to home, or Two - take the shorter route via a local gravel road and hopefully be home quicker. I chose option Number Two and booked it, so to speak. Within 5 miles from home I felt the first drops of rain. It was a warning. A threat almost. The crest of the Blue Ridge was enveloped in a downpour, rendering half of the mountain invisible. I wondered about those hiking the trail, and hoped they were huddled in shelters safe from the storm. As for me, I pushed both the bike and myself to the 28mph limit. The pavement flew under my wheels as I endeavored to outpace the rains thundering up behind me. But I ran out of steam within 2 miles and had to back down the speed, disgusted at myself for being so unfit.
Not all for naught, however. I'd given myself enough of a head start to be just out of range of the exploding storm at my heels. The final 3 miles flew under my feet and I was up the driveway and home before the first serious drops fell. A victory, albeit a close shave.
I will enjoy the hiking blogs as we compare our separate 25 mile "outracing the rain" stories, those atop the mountain on the narrow rocky trail, and mine below on the smooth paved road. And maybe today I'll be out again cycling on the road, just as those hikers will be on the trail. They have 2,000 miles to cover in their quest. I, on the other hand, simply have a ride this weekend. 20 or 50 miles. Still hard to decide which. Still a toss up. For now.
More rains forecast today, worse than yesterday. Lots of "severe weather" warnings already popping up on my phone and tablet.
Guess I'll have to lay out some strategy for this next ride if I want to outrace the rains again.
Shame about the headwind, I know how you feel too well!
