the Way of the Turtle

A NIGHT RIDE... INTO A MONSOON!
11.7 Mile Ride on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Path
Thursday, November 12, 2015

The rain seemed to be holding off and it was still fairly warm (at least for November) so I loaded the bike on the car and got over to the bike path around 7 PM. My first night ride of the season, and the first time I actually needed a light. I lucked out and had a tailwind on my way over to Lock 7 and the base of the old landfill... of course, that meant I was heading into the wind all the way back, and I was getting spattered with occasional raindrops too. I turned around at Onderdonk Ave and was enjoying a fairly pleasant ride back to the car... until about a mile and a half out it started to rain harder... and harder... and harder...! When I pulled into the parking lot it started coming down in buckets... I pretty much tossed the bike on the rack and strapped it down, then jumped in the car without taking anything off, pretty well drenched. Good thing I had worn cold weather gear - even wet it kept me warmer than I would have otherwise been on the ride home. Riding in the rain isn't much fun under the best of circumstances... riding in a downpour at night in November isn't even remotely the best of circumstances. But at least it held off until I was almost done...

JMH