Wet Ride

INTERESTING BIKE RIDE Yesterday my husband and I did a 57 mile ride with our Team in Training cycle team. We are training for a 100 mile bike ride, the 20th Intracoastal Century Ride, which takes place on October 26th in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The ride started from Coral Cove Park, on Jupiter Island, and traveled north to Jensen Beach Park, on Hutchinson Island, and back. We rode through 2 counties, Palm Beach and Martin, and were just a few miles south of St. Lucie County. That was a lot of riding. For many of our team mates, this was the furthest they have ever ridden! WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS About halfway into the ride, we started to see some dark storm clouds rolling in from the ocean. We felt just a few rain drops as we were heading down off the HUGE south Hutchinson Island bridge, on our way to our second rest stop at Sandsprit Park in Port Salerno. We stayed dry while at the rest stop, but as we were leaving the park took note of the clouds quickly rolling in from the east. We decided to pick up our ride pace a bit to try and out run the storm. We got to within 6 miles from the end of the ride, at Coral Cove Park, when the rain started coming down. At first it was just a light sprinkle, but it quickly turned into a deluge. The team got a bit spread out as the rain came down. My cycling glasses started fogging up on the inside, and were pelted with rain on the outside which just about made me blind. So I took a moment to pull over, take my glasses off and wipe down my face. Saw a bit of lightening - wonderful motivator to ride FASTER. I was practically flying as I was riding the last few miles - blasting through huge puddles and hoping the cars on the road could see me. Made for an interesting last few miles. But at least it cooled us down - tends to get a bit hot down here in south Florida this time of year. Guess I always try to look on the positive side of things! Next week we'll be doing the same exact ride. Unless it rains, we will try to add a couple of more miles to next weeks team ride, to get up to 60 miles total. If we go down to the Hobe Sound Preserve, and back, by Hobe Sound Beach, that will add another 3.4 miles to the ride. CRASH TEST DUMMIES Just kidding. Two of our team members took a bit of a tumble during the ride. One of the girls crashed as she was coming off SE Bridge Road and trying to get to the sidewalk. The metal grates of the bridge get a bit slippery in the rain so we decided to go over the bridge using the sidewalk. Unfortunately her front tire got stuck in a rut between the road and sidewalk. Luckily she wasn't going very fast, and fell down on top of her bike. She got a bit of dirt and debris on her cycle jersey but didn't injure herself. Unfortunately my husband, Coach Rob, wasn't so lucky. He took a pretty good spill coming down the south Hutchinson Island Bridge. He is actually a very good rider. But he looked behind him, to see how two riders behind him were doing, when he caught the edge of a chunk of cement. He took a hard fall onto the bridge - just about tore off the tip of one of his thumbs and got some major road rash on his elbow and leg. He totally shredded one of his gloves - but imagined how much worse his hand would have been if he wasn't wearing gloves. Our SAG (support and gear) girl Tina, stopped to see how he was. He slapped a bandage on his thumb and kept riding. He was a mountain biker long before he got into road biking, so I guess he's used to crashing on the bike. If it was me, I would have probably freaked out and ridden in the SAG wagon for the rest of the ride. Moral of the story - don't look behind you as you are riding up a bridge!!! Take care, stay dry and ride safe! Lynn AKA Bike Diva HIDE A KEY? P.S. - Hey Rob, I didn't even mention how we were late to the start of the ride because you lost the keys to your truck! I guess that story will have to wait for another time.