Clark Griswold. You gotta love his enthusiasm for life and willingness to do follow his, ahem, heart…
Just as he’s about to take the plunge into what is assuredly a monumental mistake, he utters those most quotable of phrases; seemingly giving himself permission to live with reckless abandon. That was this morning. With what we knew was probably the beginning of California’s largest ‘weather event’ in the last 3 years barreling down on us. We went for a ride. The plan was to go for a short ride and if we got caught out – it would only be a little rain storm.
We didn’t count on the hypothermic properties of cycling kit and being soaked to the skin in 50 degree weather at the beginning of a descent. With a constant 20mph or so wind rushing over us and the wet roads keeping us from pedaling to keep our hearts pumping warm blood through us; we spent the better part of an hour slowly and assuredly lowering our body temperatures as we made our way back. A couple of us opted for for the warm confines of our support car for the last 5 miles. Jim and Ed manned up, dropped the hammer and raced back to stay warm; narrowly avoiding being taken out by the better part of a palm tree dislodged by the wind.
There is no feeling quite like trying to pedal when you can’t feel your legs. (thanks for the photo Bruce – @bbweyman)
When it was all said and done, knowing that it could have ended the way that it did: “Crazy,” we still would have quoted Clark Griswold; put the helmets on and jumped in. There’s a difference between saying it and experiencing it. Now, there’s a story to tell. An experience to remember. And I doubt any of us would trade it away.
Here’s the link to my Strava data. Please be kind:
A Soupçon of Trust 