Before going to bed last night I checked the weather report for my ride today: Overcast until about 7am, but then clear and sunny from 9am until 1pm with a 9kph wind coming from the south Temperature at around 9C (48F). Sounded great despite the fact that, taking the 100km (60-mile) route I was planning, I'd end up fighting a mild headwind on the way back. As long as it wasn't too cold, windy or raining I'd have a decent ride. So hoping into bed at 11pm, I put my alarm on for 8am confident that I would have a nice ride the next day...or so I thought.
Next morning I wake from a very pleasant sleep and notice the light coming in through the window is a deep orange. Weird, I thought, and had a look outside. The clouds were lit up like it was on fire - was I still dreaming? It wasn't raining and the wind seemed a bit stronger than 9pkh. I had some breakfast and watched the sky and the weather report on TV over a cup of coffee. Still clear they said.
9am came along and I was dressed and ready to roll - it started raining lightly and I could hear thunder rolling in the distance. No problem - I'll give the rain an hour to clear up. I chilled out with my fresh copy of Pro Cycling and another cup of coffee for an hour. At 10 it was still raining, but it was clearing in the west and I took a pic of a lovely double rainbow. I took it as a good sign and decided to get going.
The air was pretty cold and the wind and rain made it even chillier, though I would be riding with a nice tailwind. I notice that the roads had flooded in places - it must have been really coming down the night before. 5-miles out I was soaked to the bone and contemplated calling it a day, but I didn't want to get wet for just 10-miles of training. I came across a group of 5 riders who seemed just as intent on getting in their rides. I greeted them good morning, but passed by as I wasn't in a group-ride mood. It had really started belted down by 15-miles covered and the wind was picking up considerably. I was flying along at 25-30miles an hour without putting in much effort - it was all very well until the hail started.
Stinging my face, the small hail stones were coming down mixed in with the rain and made me start looking for a bus shelter, however I was still another 3-4 miles away from the next town, so I just powered through. Misery makes me stronger, I thought. Memories of watching pros tackle the spring classics with snot running across their haggard looking faces started running through my mind. If I had have had a dry area to stop and put on some Johnny Cash on my iPod, I would have done so, but I didn't so had to be content with Brian Eno's Curiosities Vol 2. I hummed a little Creedence...
At the 20-mile mark I did myself the favor of turning back as I was now fed up and my behind was not happy with my shorts soaked and chaffing. The hail had stopped but the rain kept on falling and I had a massive headwind to contend with - oh how I wish a had have stayed with the group I passed... Some parts of the ride back were so hard I was standing on the pedals yet crouching as much as possible, sometimes yelling and swearing. My feet were soaked even though I was wearing rubber shoe-covers. The misery made me feel strangely comforted - I was having a good workout!
I eventually made it back home after 2 hours of cold hell. The last turn going across the road and into my driveway I took a little too quickly and literally ran out of driveway as I was still cornering. At about 15-mph my front wheel slid and I came down on my right knee and shoulder. I stood up immediately to assess the damage - nothing broken, just a nice scrape on my knee, my shoulder is nicely bruised and my right hand was a little sore from stopping myself at the point of falling. My bike's brand new handlebar tape was slightly ripped and I suspect I could have bent my rear derailleur as my gears are now skipping.
Anyway - nice and warm now and another weekend ride under my belt.
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