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I've Got Something to Say
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| Ride Stats |
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Time: 06:22:38
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Distance:
101.45 miles
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Max Speed:
34.00 mph
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Avg Speed:
15.90 mph
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Altitude Gain:
0 ft
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Route:
Dog Prairie Century
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Weight:
237
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Category: training: endurance -
solo
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Terrain: Road: Hills
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Bike: Fuji Roubaix RC Road
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Club: None |
| Weather Conditions: upper 50's to mid-60's
Wind: SE10
overcast with some rain between New Melle & Wright City, then rained again in St Paul while I was eating lunch
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This is the 7th year of the Dog Prairie Century. While the first one was while I was on my transcontinental bike ride in Sept ’05, I did my first Dog Prairie Century in 2008, and only did the metric century in ’09 & ’10. My goal today was to do the full hundred, which would give me centuries on back-to-back Saturdays, and the weather would be much cooler than it has been during the last couple years for this ride. However the forecast also called for a some scattered rain off & on, and more rain coming after 3 PM – I planned to be done by 3!
As I was driving along 370 on my way to St Paul, there were some sprinkles falling, but as I happened to glance in driver’s side rearview mirror, I could see the sun sitting about 65% above the horizon thanks to a partial clearing of the skies off to the east. It was one of those times that it would have been great to have a camera, but it would have been an impossible shot to take while driving and trying to capture it in the mirror, and the image was gone from the mirror within a couple seconds anyway.
Once in St Paul, while preparing to get the bike on the road, the main discussion among the cyclist was what to wear. It was a chilly air in the 50’s, and the threat of rain could make it cooler than that. My choice was my short sleeve jersey, with arm warmers, and after waffling back and forth about putting on the tights to keep the legs warm or not, I decided not, thinking that if it did rain I didn’t what them to catch & hold the rain and add a couple more pounds of hauling around. I did make sure my rain jacket was in my seat bag.
I got rolling on the road about 7:25, and made it through Lake St Louis and into the first rest stop at New Melle without much issue. I was feeling pretty good, other than a little ache & pain in the knees from the cool air – the tights would have prevented that, but nothing major. The sprinkles started a couple miles later down the road, and they soon turned into a steady rain. As the sky & horizon in the general direction of Wright City (the next rest stop) looked obscured by falling rain I did a quick stop along side the road to put on the rain jacket to a) make sure I don’t catch a chill from the cool air, and b) be a little more noticeable/visible to cars w/the bright yellow jacket. As I was riding along in the rain I was thinking how common it was this year of riding in the rain, especially up in Wisconsin during the Tour of Door County – and I was wearing the jersey I was given as part of the tour!
When pulling into Wright City, there was still a light rain falling. I did not stop at the rest stop as I felt I had enough fluids in my bottles to get me to Moscow Mills – especially since it is not in the 80’s or 90’s like it has been the last couple years. Leaving Wright City is one of the best sections of this ride. Turning left onto Hwy J is a long down hill and flats for the better part of the next 10+ miles. By time I reached Moscow Mills the sun was peaking through the clouds and the roads were dry, so I removed the jacket & repacked it in the seat bag when I got to the rest stop.
Upon getting back in St Paul, I ordered my lunch at sat at a table just inside the door of the Dog Prairie Tavern. The tavern was being remodeled but still serving as the host of today’s ride, and the door remained open, so ever once & awhile I could feel the cool breeze. Three other cyclist joined me at the table for 4, and we chatted about the morning’s ride and other rain & ride experiences over the last couple months. It started raining outside as we ate and the discussion quickly turned to who wanted to do the afternoon loop or not. One guy pulled the weather radar up on his smart phone and it showed that the rain was leaving the area, not just St Paul but of the area we were to ride this afternoon. Two opted not to do the rest of the ride, the third wanted to go over to his car and get his leg warmers. As for me, I was pretty confident about going on – again I have become fairly accustom to riding the rain.
The rain had pretty much stopped by time I was riding down the road again, but I had put my jacket back on mainly to protect from the water spraying upon me from the back tire. About half way to the rest stop in Wentzville (the only rest stop for this loop) I pulled off the side of the road to put the jacket back into the seat bag. The roads were dry for the rest of the ride, and the wind, which was also noticeable before lunch was stiff buy not real forbidding when having to ride into it.
I finished the ride right around 3 PM (one of my other goals for the day) and I didn’t feel exhausted or physically depleted to do so. One side note to add: the rear tire of my bike was very low on air (not flat flat) when I got home & unloaded it from the truck. I’m not sure if it got punctured somewhere in the last few miles of the ride, or along the gravel alley, etc. getting back to my truck once I arrived back in St Paul.
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