Super, thanks for asking!

Yesterday was, uh, a challenge. I've been biking to the meeting place for our training rides - I found that biking the 7 miles to the bike shop where we meet took about the same amount of time as attaching the bike rack to my car, loading the bike, driving to the shop, finding parking and unloading - plus it makes a heck of a lot more sense.

Except yesterday morning when it was time to set out there was a steady rain falling. Pokey was rarin' to go with his fenders and Brooks saddle cover, and was standing there as if to say "what you waiting for, girl?" So I sucked it up and set off. I'm glad I had the cheepo bright yellow jacket I bought a size too large from Performance, I put that over my long-sleeve jersey and Pearl Izumi jacket, so I kept reasonably warm and dry, at least from my neck to my hips. I had on lycra/cotton tights over my bike shorts, and hoped for the best that my legs wouldn't get too cold.

And it wasn't ... too... bad ... riding in the rain, especially once I figured out that no, brakes don't work so well in the rain but at 8 am on a rainy Saturday morning there wasn't much traffic to contend with, and most of my ride was along the Alameda Creek path anyhow which, not surprisingly, I had practically all to myself. Which is just as well, I think I was muttering "this sucks" over and over before I finally settled in.

People got a kick out of me when I slogged into the bike store trailing a river behind me (most seemed to have driven in, there were only a few wet rats besides me). I wasn't very bad off though, I never got too cold and my tights dried off pretty quickly. All in all I felt kind of proud of myself for braving the elements

The training ride itself was cancelled - which was probably a good idea, I wasn't worried for myself but we were supposed to do a hilly route yesterday and I think there would have been some safety issues. So we had a safety lecture (along the lines of how not to get killed at busy intersections), after which I set off back for home.

It had stopped raining by then, and I had mostly dried off, so instead of taking the turnoff for home I headed out to the Coyote Hills and did a couple of loops of the hilly area and out to the path out to the bay and back home, about 30 miles altogether. It's beautiful out there this time of year, all green after the winter rains, with beatiful egrets and herons and hawks and noisy geese. I encountered a few groups of women from the training ride series, I guess some of them set out for this area after I had left the bike shop. To be perfectly honest, I'm kind of glad I went on alone, I'm finding that sometimes I really enjoy solitary rides. And I was feeling super. I was marvelling at the fact that a ride that would have done me in a month or so ago was no great shakes now. And I remember at one point I said a little thank you to the ladies on this list who encouraged me to give this a go {hug}

end of babble, - Jo.