Coffee At Peets Popularie-Rain Ride

Coffee At Peet's alt route with climbing.

Weather forecast was wrong again... no partly cloudy skies today. After an early blue sky effect, I opted to do a short ride today after about 3 days of off and on again rain. As soon as I rolled into the 7-Eleven start, it started to come down. I was on the Fuji carbon bike instead of the fender friendly SOMA. I had pulled the rear wheel on the SOMA to re-lace the drive side with 4mm longer spokes. Bummer. I had on my Louie G. booties, leg warmers coated with Silicone spray, fingerless gloves and PI rain jacket. Covering my front bag and helmet were the 10 for 99 cent shower caps!
Steady rain followed me around and up Old Hwy. 395. Rolling down Champagne Blvd at 30mph was a blast! Things seem quieter in the rain. Drive line, roads, traffic and such. Nasty splash by as a few cars rolled by. Did see a family of 4 cycling near Welk Resort. They all had on lime green jackets and looked good. A little breezy too as the rain followed me up to Bonsall, where I stopped at the AM/PM for a cheapo receipt.

Nice fast riding on Hwy. 76, as westbound splashing traffic was light . Saw a rider far ahead of me, so I cranked it up a bit to 20mph on smooth roads, coated with a little water. Passed this racer guy while he stopped for a red light at Melrose Ave. Rain tapered a bit as I turned on the SLR Bike Path, where the racer guy pulled off for the bushes!
I did stop at the College Ave. Park for rest rooms and put my helmet cover back on, as it was starting to rain again. The bike path was void of cyclists, but a few joggers did dot the damp surface. Nearing Oceanside, the rain let up some. I stopped at the Circle K for a receipt and loosen my booties and pull my jacket back and fasten it behind my back.

Louie Garneau Power Covers go on before the shoes!

Slo going down the coast, as misty conditions and a slight headwind from the counterclockwise low pressure system lingering about. Rolled into Nytro store. Parked the wet bike in the store. No bike rack outside today due to weather. Picked up 16 new shorter Swiss DT spokes for the SOMA drive side. They didn't quite have the length I needed, so I did get some 286mm ones. (They later proved to be too short and wouldn't catch the new brass nipples!) Chatted with Joe on a Gatorskin Hardshell order and chances of getting another Giro "FEATURE" helmet.(My other nice one was taken with the C'dale MTB in December). Chatted a while and headed south. Did the Del Dios option route back to Escondido. Met a lot of riders in the real light rain. They all had numbers on their bikes. Must be some local ride. I checked and it wasn't the Tour De Cure, or the SD Century, or the Poway Century. Still wondering.  By the time I got back to San Marcos, the rain had all but stopped with a slight mist left. Picked up some cookies as a reward and headed home to try the spokes. Shoes were dry, long wool socks were damp. Hope it rains on the SB400!

-randorides