1. Dress accordingly!!!
This is one thing my team and I failed to do on Sunday. The start of the day wasn't too bad, light sprinkle. Little did we know that there was going to be a terential down pour on our way home. We stopped in Madison Park to eat (and have a quick beer) but found ourselves waiting for the rain to stop... it never happened. Going down I-90 I nearly went blind from all the rain and dirt pelting my face. By the time the ride was over, my concern for extra weight at the beginning of the ride was no long a concern of mine, considering my clothes had gained an extra 20lbs in water weight. My feet were literally SWIMMING in the water my shoes had trapped. So next time you KNOW it's going to rain while out riding your bike (which we did) wear clothes that will not only keep you dry, but warm as well.
2. Have a plan!!!
Another thing we failed to do on Sunday. Our original plan was to ride 30 miles. Start in Factoria, ride 15 miles out into Seattle and turn around. That didn't happen. We crossed 90 and decided to head up to 520 to do a little circle back to Factoria (Thanks to Jocelyn's brakes not working correctly) Little did we know, "PEDESTRIANS AND BICYCLISTS PROHIBITIED" on 520. Here comes the rain. I've got a great idea at this point, lets ride through the country club in Madison Park to cut about 3 miles off our route... nope. Stupid security guard wouldn't let us pass, it's back to 90. So little to say, it's important to know WHERE you're going before you start!!!
3. Make sure your equipment is ready to go.
Two of us ran into this issue yesterday, but I think Jocelyn had the worst of it. For me, the brand new camelback I bought leaked water all over my ass, thanks to Hillary staring at it I was able to catch the leak before it got out of hand. Jocelyn had a brake issue. After taking the bike to God himself, Tom, to get everything readjusted apparently something went wrong, because the back brake refused to let go. After countless minutes trying to fix it, we just decided Jocelyn would be better off without a back brake. So folks, before you take off, make sure all your gear is working properly!
4. NO STOPPING FOR BEERS AND QUESEDILLAS AT THE HALFWAY POINT!!!
So our goal for these rides are to burn more calories than we consume... we are now 0-2. I think when we stopped at the Cactus in Madison Park in the back of all our heads was "someone is going to talk us out of riding the rest of the way home." That didn't happen, we're all troopers. We guzzled down our delicious alcoholic beverages and paddled, I mean peddled our way home through the pouring rain!! About halfway home I think we all started to feel a little nauseus. Next time, water and a salad bar!!
...I'm not a professional biker, or a professional anything at that and I know these seem like common sense rules. But I consider Jocelyn, Hillary and myself to be fairly intellegent and NONE of us followed any of these rules. So to you 3 followers, before you step on a bike, heed my words!!! You've been warned!!!!
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