Adding my ride report too...

The sky looked pretty ominous at the start but I was trying to be optimistic. It had been overcast in the morning the day before and turned out to be a beautiful day. No such luck... as others had mentioned, it started raining about 10 minutes into the ride. At first the rain was light so I was thinking no big deal, I can do this. Then it started coming down heavier. I started thinking I would hang a left instead of a right as we approached Neel's to head back to the start when the rain eased up. So, I headed up Neel's, debating in my mind whether to do Six Gap as planned or bail and do Three Gap. At that point, the skies just opened up. My decision was made... I played my "weather weenie" card and opted for Three Gap.

Right around that time, my BF (who had gotten a late start) pulled up next to me. Woohoo! He was holding the car keys. I could get them from him and not stand around wet at the end waiting for him to finish all six. He told me he was playing the "I'm a local, I can do this sometime when the weather's nice" card (sounds so much better than weather weenie, doesn't it??). He opted for Three Gap too.

I always skip the rest stop at the top of Neel's... too crowded and early enough in the ride that I don't need a break. In this rain, I just wanted to get finished so I continued on. The descent wasn't bad... not too many people around me so I felt okay letting myself get a little speed and not having to try to brake too much in the rain. I did slow up well before the left turn onto Wolfpen. That's a tough turn even when it's dry.

Wolfpen wasn't bad. Either the rain had eased up a little or all the trees were shielding me. I stopped briefly at the top but really wanted to just keep moving so I didn't get cold. A bit chilly on the decent but warmed up pretty quickly on the rollers through Suches valley. The rain was coming down so hard through there that it felt like pin pricks all over my face and was really hurting my eyes. I had taken off my sunglasses since the lenses were too dark but put them back on to protect my eyes. They immediately fogged up so I had to take them back off. I think I rode a couple of miles with one hand on the handlebar and one hand shielding my eyes. Thankfully, the hard, hard rain didn't last too long.

Finally made it to Woody's. This climb is just a bump in the road compared to the other two (only about 2 miles) and it seemed to be over fairly quickly. I knew that the remaining 10-15 miles was mostly downhill so I decided to just keep moving rather than hitting the rest stop at the top. I love the Woody's descent and the rain was pretty light by that time so I felt okay taking it pretty fast. Then, just hammered through the homestretch to the finish.

I was so surprised to see my time when I crossed the finish line. I was pretty miserable during the ride and pushed hard because I just wanted to get it over with. Even though I was slower and more cautious than usual on the descents, I had my fastest Three Gap time ever... just under 3.5 hours.

I saw Pedal Wench after the ride. She mentioned that she ran into you Nanci. Sorry I missed you. I think I saw your BF at some point during the ride. Someone pointed out his jersey and said that we should all wear something like that while riding the gaps -- maybe that would keep motorists from treating us like sissies in lycra