so so wet

No it’s not a porn review, that’s my other blog 😉 It was raining again in Tucson today. Unfortunately, I enjoy riding in the rain. Call me crazy or odd, go ahead, you won’t be the first. I’ve got all the proper kit somewhere. Rain cape, neoprene toe covers, water proof booties, neoprene gloves. Add in some leg/arm warmers plus an undershirt under the long jersey and you are pretty much set for a sort of comfy ride.

Since I’m participating in a race next weekend, I figured let’s go with the Specialized Transition. Lets call that mistake #1. Even though it was sprinkling when I left the house, I choose to leave the rain cape on the couch and go with the vest. Lets call that mistake #2. The neoprene gloves were left on the shelf where they normally rest. And you see where this is leading to, mistake #3.

Once it actually started to rain, it wasn’t so bad. Kind of warm, a light drizzle and a tailwind that would push me up the back side of Gates Pass with it’s 14% grade. My kind of climbing! Prior to that, rolling along Kinney Rd the side wide and a little lean and you were motoring along at 27mph.

But once I hit the bottom of Gates, I noticed I could see my breath. No good can come of that. Cold and wet facing a 5k descent after a climb. The wind started to pick up and it began to rain harder during the climb. One over the climb, going down the descent was sketchy. Sketchy because every horror story you’ve ever heard about Specialized Transitions brakes is true. They don’t have the best stopping power normally. When wet they have almost no stopping power. I was going 25mph downhill with a death grip on both brakes. Full squeeze and no slower. Normally I don’t mind going 35+ downhill. But when it’s wet, and you have slippery aluminum base bars with almost no place to put your hands when braking, it’s a little sketchy.

This is where mistake #2 and 3 come into play. With a rain cape, I probably wouldn’t have been shivering. Cold + wet + 5km downhill = lots of shivering and numb hands. I’d have called someone for a ride but there was no way I could use the buttons on my phone. Awesome!

The aftermath:
A pile of wet clothes and shoes minus jersey and undershirt which are in the washing machine.

Warming up:

Oh so much fun, once I stopped shivering after I got home. I sure hope my shoes dry out before tomorrow’s ride.