The "I can't believe it's still raining" 200k and a flat

I was contacted by Susan Otcenas, RUSA board member, and her partner, Jeff, about riding one of my 200k permanents on December 30th. I was already planning to ride my Four Rivers 200k that day so I persuaded them to join me. Both Susan and I needed the ride for our R12 awards.

Of course, a weather system came in that day so we were treated to quite a bit of rain and cold. I'm from England and they're from Oregon so we were able to complete the ride without dying of hypothermia.

However they showed their superior bad-weather planning by riding with mudguards. I rode with a rooster tail and a big black stripe up my back. I think living for 30 years in California has affected me.

This is why you ride with mudguards in the rain

As we headed inland on the San Gabriel river trail we were treated to a fragment of washed-out rainbow. I don't recall ever cycling towards a rainbow before. It was rather nice.

The rain eased off and stopped completely as we got close to the Duarte turn-around. We ate at the Subway there, outside, and it was all very civilized.

Susan and Jeff enjoying a moment of sun shine at Subway

We then headed back to the beach on the Rio Hondo bike path into the usual headwind. The clouds and rain returned as we approached Long Beach so our semi-dry clothes got soaked again. We tried to eat at the Yard House but they had closed their patio due to the rain (wimps) so we went next door to Tequila Jacks which has a well covered patio that was still open. I hadn't noticed before, but they have an extensive "Tequila Menu". It turns out Jeff is fond of tequila so he enjoyed an aromatic shot. It rained very hard while we were there but eased off considerably before we left.

About fifteen miles from the end I got a flat. I'm not sure when my last flat was - about 4000 miles ago I think. Time for a new rear tire. Everything was wet so when I used the CO2 cartridge it literally froze to my fingers.

Keep away from tongue

When I tried to inflate the new tube with my pump about 1/4 cup of water squirted from the top as I pulled the handle up and there was so much grit in there the seal was no good. Jeff's pump didn't work either. Fortunately I had another CO2 cartridge.

Helmet light helps

We got to the end of the ride 11 hours and 25 minutes after we started. We were wet and cold and I was hungry. We went to Denny's where I had omelette, hash browns, toast, and hot chocolate. I don't think there's anywhere in England you could buy that at 8pm.

So it wasn't the most pleasant weather for a 200k but at least the beach path was clear and we were able to ride as fast as we wanted (which wasn't very fast). And the company made up for the weather.

That was the last ride of the year. My grand total mileage for 2016 is 11,163 miles. A personal best.