The Torrential Rain Ride

Wanda (my friend) invited me to go on a 30 mile bike ride around the city with her friend Amy along with one of Amy's friends. I thought it sounded like a great idea because, it would give me a great chance to see the city and discover it from the bike riders perspective. It was a little rainy so I decided to put on my best bike gear for the day, just in case we got a little rain along the way.

The ride started out spectacular. We rode from my house downtown to Amy's, then headed south along the river. It was a little cold, but once you got going and built up a sweat it wasn't too bad. After following the river down to Sellwood, we turned and headed east towards the 205. This is were the weather became a little bit worse. It started raining a little harder, but still it was bearable. I was staying dry, because of my gear and my sunglasses were shielding my eyes from water getting in them. Wanda and I found ourselves going a little bit faster than the other ladies, so we would stop every now and then to wait for them to catch up. It was no big deal, because we were just enjoying the ride. Even though we would stop from time to time, I felt like the ride was taking a while. I have done a lot of 30 mile rides and this one just seemed to be going extra slow. Maybe it was the fact that I was new to the area and really I had no idea where we were headed.

When we hit the 205, we followed a path along the freeway north. The weather actually started to get better and the sun came out. Our clothes had a chance to dry and I could feel the temp warming up. We were all the way out in Clackamas, which by the way is a horrendous place to call home if you live in Portland. The neighborhoods aren't the best, so I was happy to be in a group. As we were heading north, Wanda and I noticed this abnormally dark cloud ahead of us. I thought this might get interesting, but continued on the course that Amy had mapped out for us before we left. We were headed to the Columbia River, where we would then turn our direction again to head west. We continued on our path heading straight for the dark cloud. Just before we got to the river the rain started. It wasn't too bad at first, but gradually became heavier and heavier. By the time we hit the river, it was an absolute down pour. The other ladies weren't to far behind us but there was no place to stop out of the rain. So, Wanda and I made an executive decision to put our heads down and power through the rain. We laughed saying there is no friends in a rain storm (kind of stolen from the phrase, "There is no friends on a powder day"). Meaning you aren't going to wait around for someone, it is every man for themselves. Everything from my waist down was completely soaked. My shoes felt like their were puddles in them and they were completely numb from the cold. We still didn't stop, we actually kept pushing harder and harder trying to push through the storm. There was surprisingly a few more people out there. Wanda and I passed them with our lightening speed, but as we passed I made sure to say, "We must be crazy." I didn't even listen for a response I just kept going. The other girls were long gone in the distance behind us.

Finally the rain started to let up a bit and we left the Columbia heading south trying to find our way home. At this point all we wanted to do was get home and jump in a warm shower. We were pretty miserable and our happy faces weren't so happy anymore, except for the fact that the sun was coming out. I knew that we were still pretty far from our houses, because we were by the airport. Thank God Wanda knows the area because she weaved us through the streets back to an area that I was familiar with. All of a sudden the rain hit us again. It didn't matter at this point I couldn't be more wet and I was still frozen from the last burst of rain. We kept riding anyway, hoping that the stop lights would turn in our favor so we wouldn't have to stop.

After 4 hours of riding I made it home. I immediately jumped in the shower and stood there thawing for about 20 minutes. I was so tired, hungry and worn out from my body taking such a beating. I was also shocked that it took me so long to go 30 miles. I wasn't convinced. I went to mapmyride.com and mapped out the route we did. Turns out it was a little over 47 miles. No wonder!!! I informed Wanda and her response was, " We're pretty much rockstars!" That is the truth! We took a hard beating on a long bike ride and made it through. The other girls on the other hand, found a restaurant to stop at. Even though they were sopping wet, they had lunch and waited for Amy's parents to pick them up. I would have been miserable if I had to stay in my wet clothes like that. Overall it was quite an experience and glad I finished it. One I will not soon forget.