Wet rides
it rained all night last night and all day today. A light, but steady rain. Enough that the ground is saturated and the puddles are huge. The leaves clogging the storm drains aren’t helping either.
Still, I got a couple of great rides in. Commuting to and from Presbytery was a nice change of pace. The winds were out of the SE. That meant I was protected from them on Park Ave and crossing Cobbs Hill on the way there, and had a nice little tailwind on the way home.
I find that in the rain, while I don’t go any faster, I tend to spin higher cadences. Not completely sure why. I think I’m just cautious and staying a gear lower than usual.
Traffic seemed confused by the idiot on a bike. With the usual exception of school buses which still buzzed me with only inches to spare, all drivers were courteous, waiting for me to pass before pulling out, and giving me a wide berth when passing.
I’m not sure if it was the different winds, the traffic, the rain itself or that I can overcome the weather and ride in the rain, but the commutes were more enjoyable today than usual.
TNUA
I was undecided on whether or not to ride the Tuesday Night Urban Assault tonight. The boiler was on when I got home at five, so I laid my wet things out on the radiators and most everything was dry by 5:45, so I went.
There were 19 riders tonight. I was the oldest by 10 or 15 years. And still the newbiest. Scott, owner of Full Moon Vista and the ride leader, just loved my Louis Garneau helmet rain cover.
Yellow, brighter than a thousand suns, with a visor and neck flap to keep the rain out of the back of my jacket, it sure looks weird. I’ve had comments ranging from French Foreign Legion, to fireman to beekeeper. I’m very self-conscious wearing it. I wsa glad when he repeated the compliment when I dropped myself from the ride later on.
Fifteen of tonight’s 19 riders were far and away better riders than me. Two more were generally faster, but seemed to tire after the first hour, and the last, a really petite woman, was right about on par with me. Among the guys, I was the slowest and in the worst shape.
That’s fine. It gave me a great workout and I didn’t feel bad about being DFL (Dead Fucking Last) on all the parts of the ride. My goal is to just be able to keep up with them, a little closer each week.
After the warm-up laps around the circle in Corn Hill, we tooled around on the fringes of the hood for a bit. Scott took us through the new roundabout intersection on Ford St. I wasn’t dead last yet and took the lane to keep a car from passing the group in the roundabout. There isn’t enough space for cars to pass safely, but they’ll try anyway.
We eventually wound up on the Riverway (west bank) and took off throughthe tree tunnel. Wet, and littered with soggy leaves, the turns through there were a little slippery. We crossed the river to Genesee Valley Park, then crossed the canal to the southern section of the park.
Here, Scott gave us instruction on how to ride fast in a group and we did several crit loops around one section. I waited until I got lapped by the 15 and pulled over to change my rear blinky and wipe off my glasses. The factory batteries in my new blinky decided they’d had enough. I swapped it out with my old one.
Despite the visor on my helmet cover, I couldn’t see a goddamed thing. The rain had turned to mist and no visor can keep the mist away. Unfamiliar roads, at night, in the rain contributed to my riding with caution, while everyone else hammered. Had I felt safe in hammering, I’d still have gotten lapped, but maybe after eight or nine laps instead of only five.
Next we crossed back over the canal, rode through the U of R and over to the Mt. Hope Cemetary. Here we did several laps of stop and start exercises. The idea was to stay in a single gear, then at each of three places in loop, come to a complete stop, trackstand and start again.
It was a great exercise, once I figured out what I was supposed to be doing and how to do it. A few laps into it was when the battery on my NiteRider headlight decided it had had enough. Plus my bladder was filled to bursting and I was beat.
Discretion being the better part of valor, I dropped myself from the ride. I missed the hill repeats which were next, and where I’d have been able to show off my climbing prowess, but not being able to see due to my poor night vision, mist on the glasses and a dead headlight, well, it seemed like calling it a night was the right thing to do.
I still had my CatEye LED headlight, but it’s more a be-seen light than one to see by. I took the sidewalk back to the U of R power station, cut through behind there to Intercampus Dr, up to Wilson Blvd and came home via Mt. Hope Ave, to Alexander St, Park Ave and Goodman.
In all, I rode 19 of the hardest miles I’ve ridden in a very long time, (on top of the 10 from my commute earlier). It was a warm (58°F) night and I sweat so much under my raincoat that I was soaked inside there and the stink was overwhelming when I took it off.
I’m sore in places I’ve not been sore before from cycling. I learned a lot of new things this week and can’t wait until next Tuesday.
I’m going to call Scott tomorrow afternoon to see if he has a second NiteRider battery in stock, or can get one by next Tuesday. Otherwise, I know where I can order one online which should get here on Monday.
