Looking at the weather last night it seemed like it was going to be an absolutely gorgeous day for the SMNDFBR, that still rang true this morning... or so it seemed.
7 of us set off from Cycle Works on what was supposed to be a great 45 mile ride, mostly the regular crowd but we did have one new person. Thanks for coming out Jim, hope to see you for more of these rides.
The planned destination was Sprague for a quick bite and then back to Lincoln, the route would have taken us down 8th street but I always forget about the farmer's market so we had to take the long way around.
One we successfully navigated our way around the market it was a quick few miles of city trail and then on to the gravel goodness.
Jim did really well and was just motoring along, it's hard to tell what pace we should set when there are new people on the ride sometimes but Jim was right there every time I looked. I was totally digging on his Wednesday also, had I not just picked up a Pugsley I'd probably have to make one mine... maybe down the road.
It really was a beautiful day for a ride, there were some dark clouds off in the distance but it didn't look like anything was coming our way...
Everything was going great, smooth gravel, not too hot, hardly any wind and even a few horses to talk to.
We even met their friendly dog friend, she was just hanging out by the fence staring at the horses until she decided to run along side us. It's not uncommon for a dog to run with you for a bit, sometimes it's because they are chasing you, but they generally turn around after a short distance and head back home. Not this girl though, she just kept running and running and running; by the time we got a mile down the road to HWY 33 we feared that she wasn't going to go home on her own and we also realized we didn't want to attempt cross the highway if she might follow. So we turned around and took her back to her house, after a few attempt to get her to stay, Ed finally got her to not follow... and then the sprinkles came. Me and Wittstruck Rd. is an old nemesis of mine, this is the road that had my number last year for Gravel Worlds. It looked like we weren't going to get along today either, since it was starting to rain we decided to take Wittstruck back toward Lincoln rather than continue on to Sprague. The farther down Wittstruck we got the more it started to pour until we were in a complete down pour.
There weren't many pictures of that hour that we slogged through the rain, eating gravel that was kicked up by our tires. Not being waterproof the camera took refuge in the Arkel trunk bag, it was only after we reached the shelter at Satillo Rd. that the camera came out again. Man we looked like drowned rats.
While we all got soaked, Jim and Sarah were the only ones that ended up with their heads and necks covered in gravel gunk; they were both trooper though, smiles all around.
Since it was the first time we were anywhere dry in an hour, we all decided to eat a little snack and drink a little bit under the shelter. I've had this pizza energy food for a week or so but wasn't brave enough to try it until today... it wasn't horrible, looked like baby poo and tasted like smooshed Spaghetti Os but at that point it hit the spot. Not sure if I'd pick up another pizza flavored one but who knows, it wasn't the worse thing I've ever eaten. As we were sitting there the rain finally stopped and the sun started to make an appearance. We decided to take the opportunity to hightail it home just in case it was a temporary reprieve but luckily the rain was gone for good. No pictures of the ride home either, while the rain had stopped the bag the camera usually lives in was soaked so back in the trunk rack for it.
While I wouldn't want to repeat the hour ride in the rain again anytime soon, I was amazed and grateful for the positive attitudes that the entire group kept in a less than ideal situation. The SMNDFBR group are an amazing group of individuals and I'm glad I get to ride with them on a weekly basis. Let's get everything washed, dried and lubed up and do it again next week, just without the rain this time.
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