Please remember you are totally responsible for yourself during this ride. So have a plan in place in case you can not finish. If you only aim to go half way, or find you can only make it half way, the address for the only checkpoint and "bail out" point is 1929, Ben Miller Park, German Valley Rd., German Valley. This will actually be mile 37.5, so you still will have 41 miles to go after that point. Please don't have people try to follow you around the course route, but you can tell give them this coordinate if you wish. Enough said about that.
A lot of you have probably been looking at the forecast for the weekend, and are trying to decide whether you are going to ride if the skies aren't clear and sunny. In other words, it looks like rain, and many of you are having a change of mind about riding 78 gravel miles while soaking wet. I can't control the weather, and I can't make up your mind for you, but I can tell you a few things that might help in your decision. First, who really knows if it will rain at all? Maybe the weather man will be be wrong, or we'll get lucky. Second, we have a large enclosed area, a barn (clean and without livestock,) to give you shelter before and after the ride. We will also have a heater in the barn to help warm you up. We won't be providing you with a warm towel and dry clothes, but I'm sure you can come up with a plan for that. Third, you have probably ridden in the rain before and survived. The temperatures of the rain looks tolerable. There will be no snow flurries or single digit temperatures to worry about. And lastly... well... this isn't a persuasive essay, but just know the ride will go on, even if you choose not to come.
It's funny how when we watch Paris Roubaix, cyclocross, or a sloppy stage of a grand tour, we get excited and root for the riders. Yet how many of us have the guts to go out and ride in inclimate weather ourselves? I too am guilty of being a fair weather rider at times, so please don't think I'm making myself all high and mighty. When it comes to events and things I have planned on doing, I have this special person in my life, my wife, who usually questions my decisions. She is one of those people who is all about committment, and who sees things in black in white all too often. "You either do it, or you don't." When she questions why I wouldn't ride in the rain, it makes me question myself too. And more times than not, I end up riding.
Hopefully the weather shapes up and we will have a great ride. Whether you choose to ride or not is up to you, but the Grumpy Grind will go on. Rain or shine, it will still be a great day to ride a bike.
A lot of you have probably been looking at the forecast for the weekend, and are trying to decide whether you are going to ride if the skies aren't clear and sunny. In other words, it looks like rain, and many of you are having a change of mind about riding 78 gravel miles while soaking wet. I can't control the weather, and I can't make up your mind for you, but I can tell you a few things that might help in your decision. First, who really knows if it will rain at all? Maybe the weather man will be be wrong, or we'll get lucky. Second, we have a large enclosed area, a barn (clean and without livestock,) to give you shelter before and after the ride. We will also have a heater in the barn to help warm you up. We won't be providing you with a warm towel and dry clothes, but I'm sure you can come up with a plan for that. Third, you have probably ridden in the rain before and survived. The temperatures of the rain looks tolerable. There will be no snow flurries or single digit temperatures to worry about. And lastly... well... this isn't a persuasive essay, but just know the ride will go on, even if you choose not to come.
It's funny how when we watch Paris Roubaix, cyclocross, or a sloppy stage of a grand tour, we get excited and root for the riders. Yet how many of us have the guts to go out and ride in inclimate weather ourselves? I too am guilty of being a fair weather rider at times, so please don't think I'm making myself all high and mighty. When it comes to events and things I have planned on doing, I have this special person in my life, my wife, who usually questions my decisions. She is one of those people who is all about committment, and who sees things in black in white all too often. "You either do it, or you don't." When she questions why I wouldn't ride in the rain, it makes me question myself too. And more times than not, I end up riding.
Hopefully the weather shapes up and we will have a great ride. Whether you choose to ride or not is up to you, but the Grumpy Grind will go on. Rain or shine, it will still be a great day to ride a bike.
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