Sunday June 4th 2006
Flat as a Pancake Ride or
How I spent a rainy, windy day, lost and fording rivers...

What a ride. I tried to ride with Craig this morning but we didn't get together. We wanted to start at 6:30 am so we could beat the heat and wind. I got up early and went out to put my bike in my car and noticed that the sky to the North West was dark and cloudy. There was also lightning but I went anyway. Craig called me, he didn't want to start in the rain so he started later.

It was fine until I got started. It rained for the first 15 miles or so. I don't like rain so I kept the pace down and there was also a good head wind so my average speed was around 16. A disappointing start.

Once the rain stopped it got better but the roads were still wet. For the first part of the ride we were pretty much riding straight North. When I got to the 25 mile mark I got a little concerned. I had just passed two people but I didn't see anyone else in front of us. I stopped and checked the map and realized we had missed a turn. We got directions from a Farmer who was passing on a tractor and decided not to turn back. We probably only added two miles. We turned and rode towards the route and joined them after a bit. But we missed a rest stop. That isn't too bad in the first part of the ride but I was getting low on water and the first part was 66 miles, so I had to get to a rest stop or buy some water in a gas station.

The next 20 miles were uneventful, the weather turned out to be great and no mishaps. After a rest stop at 45 miles with a water fill-up the pace picked up to a more normal 19-22 mph. The woman who was in charge of the rest stop warned us about flooded roads ahead and at 55 miles we hit it. The road was completely flooded over. Even the cars didn't want to go through it. I didn't want to turn around so ahead I went. My sandles were the best thing to wear as it turned out, because the water was about six inches deep and over my pedals at the bottom of the stroke. Other people were complaining of wet feet, socks and shoes. The water only lasted about one block but it was enough to slow many riders to a crawl.

Lunch was served at the 66 mile point. Once again it was cold cuts and chips. Some of the riders were passing up the lunch. I had a sandwitch and salad. I tried to eat light and fast.

My stats for the first half were:

Dst: 69, Avs: 17.5, Mx: 31, Tm: 4 hours. Not too impressive but I did have mother nature against me.

The second half was pretty uneventful. It turned out to be great bicycling weather. There was a little wind and near the end we rode right into it. At one point some buzzards were circling but I wasn't dead yet.

My stats for the second half are:

Dst: 104 miles, Avs: 17.2, Mx: 31, Tm: just over 6 hrs.

Not too bad considering. And once again my tire held out.


This was at mile 1, raining and cool.


This was the 20 mile mark and when the sun first came out


Clouds. What I was looking at for the first part of the ride


80 mile mark. This is what most of the ride looked like


I played tag with this couple for most of the last part of the ride


The buzzards were circling but I wasn't finished yet...