Well, with the first real rain comes the change in the riding seasons. Now it’s time to break out the winter weather gear. I’m not looking forward to cold, wet rides on one hand, but at least I can get in some riding. Every year I have to work hard to encourage myself not to be a fair-weather rider. I hate getting my face wet, but I love riding in the rain. I don’t mind cold weather, but I hate freezing. The challenges of riding on rain-slicked trails are kind of fun too. It just changes everything in even little ways. I’ve been finding myself making mental lists of the trails I plan on hitting within the next few weeks. I have the ‘it’s just rained’ list and the ‘woohoo it’s sunny’ list. I keep looking at weather reports and thinking which list am I going to choose from this time. I’ve come up with Lake Hogan and New Melones if it rains. Auburn and Folsom if it doesn’t. Possibly sneaking in rides a little further up the hill is a thought for adding to the drier days. Of course I couldn’t resist adding “reading about bike riding on the web” for those severe days when no one should be out on their bike.
I’ll have to see how this winter plays out. So far it seems to be like waiting for the other shoe to drop. There’s still barely any snow at Lake Tahoe and it’s the end of October. It would be great to get at least three rides in each week at the minimum, but I honestly expect to only be able to ride twice a week on average.