Michael: Timing a bike ride

Blind rhythms find us
Whenever we close our eyes
Or search the darkness.

Friday, Sept. 25, 2015

I’ve never enjoyed riding in the rain. It takes an already hazardous activity and moves the danger factor up a notch. Plus it mucks up your bike.

 It does rain much more here than it does in Southern California, pretty much every day in the rainy season, but the weather is much more predictable and plays less of a factor in deciding to ride than it does in Southern California.

Here, at least, I can be certain that if I get back home by noon, I’ll miss the rain. In SoCal, if and when it does rain, your rolling the dice.

It can also get damned cold in SoCal; particularly on a bicycle where damp cold air combined with speed can equate to a Dumb and Dumber frozen snot ride. It might be in the 50s in the early mornings here, but around 7:30 it’s sure to have heated up into the 70s and my ride can be done in pretty comfortable weather. If I head west and drop down toward the ocean, it could even get into the upper 80s and with the humidity there, can get unpleasantly warm, making the return ride up into the cool hills a real treat.

Lately, it’s been raining fairly late into the evenings, so the roads are a little damp early in the morning. I usually wait until about 8 - 8:30 to let them dry out. That gives me at least a three and a half hour window in the rainy season to ride without any weather related excuses to put off getting out there.

I may not always be up to a ride on the days I’ve penciled one in, but the weather, so far, has never been a factor.