August 9th (Afternoon)

Well, the rain was supposed to come Thursday and last ‘till Sunday. However, I managed to avoid it, as it didn’t rain ‘till Saturday and a bit on Sunday. This morning’s ride was dry, with some clouds. However, shortly after I arrived at work it started to rain, and it rained and poured all day. By the time I left work at 4:45pm, it was still raining (although only drizzling at that point). No big deal, I thought, I’ve ridden in rain before. However, not wanting to get stuck at the Peterson’s Creek crossing (if the creek was too high/fast), I opted to go home on my old route. So, I headed down Hugh Allan with rain and road spray covering my face (making it very difficult to see anything, or even breathe as I had to have my mouth shut most of the ride). I got to the intersection of the Merrit highway and Roger’s Way and contemplated going down towards Wal Mart, as the dirt path beside the highway has been known to get pretty slick. Well, I chose the path (how bad could it really be?).

BAD CHOICE.

It was extremely muddy and slick, and I was grinding and pushing, spinning the whole way up the little climb. My tires ballooned about twice their normal size with mud, my brakes were completely blocked over with mud and the chain and derailleurs fast started hopping and jumping all over. Near the top, the chain actually ended up jumping right into the spokes again… This meant I had to dismount and walk in the 2 inch thick mud! Now my cleats were jam packed with mud, I got the chain back in place and then pushed the bike to the top where the ground was a bit more solid and I was able to stomp some of the mud out of the shoes. I rode the rest of the path down and across to Gleneagles, where I thought some pictures would be a good idea…

It was shifting so nicely this morning! Was that ever short lived…

Things just don’t work as nice with this kind of build up…

Well, the ride down Springhill wasn’t that much fun, to say the least. It took most of the hill just to ride the tires of the mud (most of which ended up in my mouth… ). At the bottom, the light was green at Summit Drive, so I decided to go left and take the trail down into Peterson’s Creek that runs along the north side of the highway, not wanted to attempt the steep trail (Billy Minor North) with brakes that may or may not be working as they should. The ride down into the creek was really quite fun, but I had to go the long way around the first little creek (not sure what creek it is or what it’s called), as it was VERY full and most likely I wouldn’t be able to get across it without taking a swim (although the bike washing would’ve probably been a good thing at this point).

I rode up to my old trail coming out of Peterson’s Creek and started the climb up. It was a good effort, but I did end up having to push the one climb in the middle that I had managed to make the last few times I had ridden this way. All in all, though, I felt really good. If the trail wasn’t so slick and the drivetrain so caked with mud, it might’ve been a different story.

In the end, the ride was still fun. Even though I had sand in my eyes, mud in my teeth and I was soaked to the bone. Even though my shoes weighed about 10lbs EACH. Even though the chain just hopped from gear to gear willy nilly… It was fun, and I felt pretty good. I think I will just take my new trail next time, though. Peterson’s Creek didn’t look that bad when I rode by, and the trails are generally much sandier, meaning they’d be much drier with this weather. We’ll see what tomorrow is like!