It was a little soggy yesterday. All right, it was down right wet outside. It rained hard most of the night and morning, but by 10:00 a.m. the rain seemed to have stopped. We were hosting the final team ride before the JDRF Amelia Island Ride at our house. We had a 11:00 roll out time and things were looking good. 15 people showed up and we decided to do the sorter loop of 34 miles. (There was also a 45 mile option that get nixed because of the weather.) This is a really fun loop. We head out over the Rouge River, do a few short climbs before heading up Post Drive and then taking 9 Mile Road out to the apple orchards in Alpine Township. All was going according to plan. There was a little spray coming off the wet pavement, but the temperature was in the mid-60's, so we were good. And then...
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| Riding in northwestern Kent County on a sloppy day. |
Then it started to rain, lightly at first, but getting harder as we rode. When we got to Sparta, the halfway point in the ride, we were drenched. Since we were as far north and west as the route was taking us there was also no way to shorten it. We were in for the whole 34 wet miles. We worked our way east on 12 Mile Road and hooked up with the White Pine Trail to travel home. About three miles from the finish the rain let up (of course). As we got into the house people were peeling off layers of soaked riding clothes. It was like a big locker room for awhile as we all put on dry clothes and then ate many snacks. Being the last ride of the season we were tasked with emptying the team snack box.
I also rode on Saturday. Just a quick 22 mile solo ride south on the WPT to Grand Rapids and back. I was concerned that we might get rained out on Sunday and I wanted to be sure I got another ride in. Our bikes leave for Amelia Island on Thursday and our bodies leave the following Thursday. Then on October 29, we mount up with 750 other cyclists for the largest JDRF ride ever. I'm really looking forward to it.
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