Yesterday's Road Ride

I went out on the road yesterday. As I was getting ready, it was pouring, no dumping, no, I started looking for scuba gear! I almost bagged it, but then the rain let up a bit, and I was really eager to ride. I had the waterproof tights on, booties, jacket, rain gloves, hat, etc. I also had a new set of Specialized All Conditions Armadillo Elite tires (my review here).

I rolled out in the rain, and plunged down the descent from my house to the first climb. Up and over that (it's steep, but short), and out into the Lorane valley. The first 20 minutes or so are on Lorane Hwy with heavy trees, almost tree-tunnel type setup. It was wet. But upon popping out of the tree tunnel area, and passing the Grange... what was this? It was dry, and partly cloudy! I hammered on.

About 15 minutes later, it'd gotten darn near hot (at least when you're wearing all the rain gear), and I stopped by the side of the road to shed. Off came the booties and jacket, stuffed into my rear jersey pockets. Onward, but then was really getting warm (well, relatively, was probably in the low 60's). Stopped again and shed the rain gloves. Riding at this point felt like I had a big messenger bag on - my jersey pockets were totally stuffed with rain gear (plus the food, pump, etc. I had in there already). Now for the series of climbs.

The climbs are quite nice back in this area. There are wineries, and just the most beautiful trees at this time of year. Red, orange, yellow leaved maples line the road, making for a beautiful ride. I continued through the countryside, and wound my way back home. As I got back to the tree tunnel area, it was a little wetter, but fine.

Now then, up the steep climb to my house, where obviously it started to rain again :) The rain was light though, and I didn't need to put any gear back on. This was a great ride. Oh, and the tires worked really well, amazingly well in fact - killer in the corners, and I've never seen a road tire spray up so little water in the rain, a definite bonus!