It’s Only Rain, You Won’t Melt

But you might get hypothermia and die.

As Steven Tyler would say “I am back in the saddle again.” After skipping one set of long rides a couple weeks ago, I returned to my training program last weekend. My plan was to do three 250 mile rides on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

As might be expected, the weather forecast was for rain, occasional showers, followed by water falling from the sky. I pushed my rides back one day, starting the trio on Saturday instead of Friday, as the forecast was for 65 degrees and sunshine on Monday. As you will read below, this was a mistake.

I left my house on Saturday morning at 2:30 a.m. on an actual road bike, no cross bike, no mountain bike, an honest-to-goodness road bike. Although we had the predictable nor’easter that inevitably blows through on my long training weekends, the temperatures were too high for the snow and ice I have come accustomed to riding in.



I was really looking forward to riding up to the White Mountains and climbing all the notches, not just Gonzo. As it turns out, Saturday was a great day on the bike. I was feeling much better after taking it easy for a couple of weeks and it never really rained. It was kind of wet and drizzly all day, but it that was the worst of it. I rode 265 miles, a great start to the weekend.

I had to make one change in my planned route. Bear Notchis not maintained for winter travel. I had hoped it would be open by now, but it wasn’t. I rode up to the gate, it was closed but the road beyond it looked clear. So I hopped over and figured I would get the next 15 miles without any traffic. I only made it about a mile and had to turn around. It seems they had been doing some logging beyond the gate and had plowed the first mile for the logging trucks. Beyond that the road was covered with ice and snow. I turned back and headed to Conway. That added about 30 miles to the loop, but I needed to extend the ride anyway.


Sunday I was once again up and out the door around 2:30 a.m. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for Saturday was more accurate. It rained off and on all day (mostly on.) Even with the rain, I actually felt better on day two than I did on day one. My speed was not as fast but I felt looser and had fewer little aches and pains. Another 250 miles down.

Monday was supposed to be the nice day…Wrong! When I left the house that morning it was a good bit cooler. It felt more like fall than spring. The good news was it wasn’t raining. I had a nice ride up to Lincoln, turned east and headed up the Kanc. About half way up the climb, the skies opened and it stated to pour. The more I climbed, the heavier the rain came down and the more the temperature dropped. I got to the top of the gap and it couldn’t have been more than 35.

I pulled into the hut at the top of the Kanc to zip up and delay the inevitable. I knew the next 22 miles to Conway were going to be painful. I was soaked to the bone, it was cold, and as soon as I started to descend I was going to get colder. (As I hung out in the hut, I notice a board describing “A raindrop’s journey” after it fell on the Kanc. Oddly enough, it ignored the possibility of a raindrop being absorbed into the pad of a cyclist’s shorts and ending up in a clothes drier in Salisbury.)

I finally left the hut and started down. The cold air quickly cut through my clothes and the pain started to creep into my hands and feet. It wasn’t long before I started to shiver. I was squeezing the brakes, for fear of going too fast and going down on the slick road and to reduce the cold wind that was eating me alive. I was torn, if I slowed down it wasn’t as cold but it would extend my suffering by making the trip to Conway that much longer. (Well Ollie, here’s another fine mess you’ve gotten us into.)

After an hour of near hypothermic suffering, I finally reached the end of the Kanc and the safety of a convenience store. I got a cup of coffee and a muffin and sat down. I spent 40 minutes shivering in the store, trying to warm up and figure out what I was going to next. (The women working there were very concerned about me and didn’t seem to mind mopping up the puddle of water that flowed off of me.)

I was only 100 miles into my ride, but I knew I couldn’t continue up into the mountains. If it stayed that cold and continued to rain, I was going to end up in a very serious situation. If I turned north, I would have no options, as the earliest opportunity to head south again would be in Twin Mountain, 40+ miles away. So I decided to turn south instead (turning around and heading back up over the Kanc was NOT an option.)

I rode another 100 miles, but decided I wasn’t going to reach my goal of 250 for the day. I felt good at the start of the day, and my speed was a little higher than it had been on day two, but the decent off the Kanc left me drained and exhausted. The rain did eventually let up, but it seemed that as soon as I started to warm up another shower would come through and soak me down again. At 200 miles, I called it a day.

Next week is my final big training weekend before I start to taper for RAAM. The plan is three back to back 300 mile rides. So be prepared, I am predicting a hurricane or maybe three feet of snow.

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