You can’t win against the weather. In an attempt to beat the arrival of a consolidated band of heavy rain arriving from the West, we hit the ditch at 13:00, but instead of arriving at the forecast 16:00, the rain arrived a few minutes after we started up Government Road. Hit it perfectly while trying to avoid it. Didn’t even have to destroy any stars – Dr. Soran would be proud (tell me where this comes from, geek!). After circuiting the side loop, Jeff suggested we ride up to the end of the road. We were already muddy and wet, so there really was no harm in riding more. Jeff was pretty much off the front from the start, but Sara, Danny, Paul, Root, and I were variably clumped up in a loose pack. On the way back down, Root and I went down the side loop a second time. The roots on the upper traverse were critically slippery. On the road back, I laid it down on the greasy-slick hard clay. I didn’t get hurt, but ended up with all the Java plum stains on my jersey and gear, as the runoff groove where I went down was where the rain was collecting the fallen fruit. After an early dinner at the Kailua Town Pub, it was home for a couple of hours of hosing off and washing the bike and gear.
Now a day later, the whole left side of my body hurts. Probably got some lower vertebra knocked out of alignment… In 20/20 retrospect, considering it was sunny at noon and sunny again around 15:00 when we hit the pub, had we not tried outsmarting the weather, we probably would have been blessed with slightly damp but otherwise perfectly tacky trail conditions! The road to Hell is paved with good intentions…
Pictures here
D = 5.52 km (3.43-miles), Vavr = 8.2 km/h (5.1-mph), Vmax = 23.0 km/h (14.3-mph), T = 40-minutes
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