RR: I'm Singing in the Rain!

Well I'm not exactly Gene Kelly but I did manage to squeeze in a ride in the rain today.

I did however manage to ride today as planned. I watched the weather channels last night and they
forecasted rain, although during the latter part of the day. However, when I woke up it was already
drizzling so I thought the trails would be closed. I checked and the park ranger said it was open.

So off I go. I got to the parking area and it was crowded so I said "What the f---?" It turned out
to be school kids and their teachers having a picnic. I put the shoes, camelbak, helmet and
computer on. I then realized I didn't have a sandwich bag to put over the 'puter, so I asked one of
the kids for his, sans his lunch of course. I found one of my daughters' hair tie in the car to
secure the bag.

On to the trails I go - I was the ONLY one there. The trails were not wet enough for "el solo mio"
to cause any damange since these are ridden a lot, and hence packed. Only the surface was wet. Since
I was solo, I rode like a maniac. I was going fast on all the downhills, and around corners to teach
myself how to steer the bike by moving it side to side instead of using just the front wheel. I did
fall a couple of times since I'm not efficient at this yetI slipped on some roots going uphill, but
that's just poor technique on my part. I'd re-track and try the same hill again and I make it the
second time. I got better at climbing the wet-rooty hills as I progressed on my ride. I rode the
loop twice, a total of 10 mi., and the second time around was a lot better (which is ALWAYS the case
for me even though I should be more tired). I wasn't that muddy at all, again tantamount to the
trails not being soaked yet. I was definitely not clean though.

Lessons learned:
- Need to pack a sandwich bag for the 'puter
- IRC Mythos tires do well on wet surfaces
- It was fun riding in wet conditions
- V-brakes did really well, but I see why discs would do better especially on more steep hills
(these trails did not have really steep downhills). Maybe front Avid mechs. are in the future.
- Practice, practice, practice

I was no Gene Kelly, but I was "singing in the rain!"

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- Zilla (Remove XSPAM)