With just three days left of riding, Matt and I spent the evening in Santa Monica with friends on Tuesday. We did 78 miles to get to their home that day, we were feeling great about the ride and about finishing before the weekend, and were loving the weather of sunny Southern California. That being said, what are the odds that we wake up on Wednesday morning to pouring down rain, and to the following headline on weather.com?:
“First Major Rainfall Expected in Months Today: Los Angeles hasn’t experienced a major rain event in months, but today’s wet weather may lead to travel woes.”
It didn’t look good. While we’re used to the constant drizzle of living in Vancouver, Washington and of hiking through rain on the AT, we hadn’t experienced a downpour while cycling. We just assumed it wouldn’t be pleasant. But, our “we can do it” mentality won us over, and we set out on our bikes that morning, ready to ride 75 miles to the next campground. Within about 10 minutes, both of us were drenched and freezing, as neither of us has rain gear, and the speed of riding a bicycle actually creates quite a cooling effect, which isn’t so good if it’s cold on the outside as well.
It didn’t take long to decide to retrace our steps, head back to our friends’ apartment, and hope to goodness they hadn’t left for work yet so they could let us back in and out of the pouring rain. Other than the momentary freak out when our friend didn’t answer the door or his phone, as he was in the shower, we were let back in and hid out in their apartment all day until the rain stopped and our clothing was dry. Thankfully, the clouds parted by late afternoon, the next day was as gorgeous as ever, and I’m now sitting in the campground we were headed for, just a day later.
While the last serendipitous occasion in Carmel was clearly in our favor, this one of the first rainfall in months wasn’t as bad as it first seemed. It gave us a day of rest, more time to work out last minute logistics before Mexico, and more time to spend with friends. That being said, I’m still thinking about that lottery ticket and what my odds are there…