Today was supposed to be a South and North Foothills linkup. There was a rumor circulating of thunderstorms, but hey, this is New Mexico, what are the chances. I rode from the house, missed one of the turns on the bike path, and wound up further north on Tramway than intended. Made it up to Copper about 20 minutes late and met up with Mike and two of his buddies. The pace started fast and I couldn't keep up with the singlespeeders. We made it over to the North Hills and detoured to the Emery trail head to fill up the water bottles. More fast riding as we followed the upper contours of the foothills. Once I got to the fence at the top of the Pino climb it was raining and no one was in sight. I went about fifty feet further and hung out under a tree for about 10 minutes. Still no sign of the rest of the group. I decided I might as well finish the loop cause I was already soaked and headed back out. I didn't make it far before I started shivering. I bailed on 230 and wound up at the larger/nicer bathroom with an awning in front. It continued to pour rain with the occasional lightning bolt, all the while the temp continued to drop. I discovered a wall heater mounted up high in the bathroom. Success! Called Mike and eventually he found his way over after finishing the loop I had bailed on. Mike wasn't sure where his two buddies had disappeared to. The two of us and some Italian guy spent 15 or so minutes in the bathroom and then the Italian left. It continued to rain. We would venture outside, only to immediately retreat due to the temps in the high 40's. There was a wedding scheduled at a gazebo right next door and eventually the wedding planner? showed up to tell us to leave. On our way out I went over to beg for a trash bag to wear as a poncho. They handed me a bag and a smaller bag and I passed the small one over to Mike. I was seriously wondering if I was going to be able to make it home. I've never shivered so hard in my life.
Right as we were about to take off a Park Ranger showed up and gave us some big bags out of his maintenance closet. I put this bag on over the first one and he encouraged us to go back in the bathroom and warm up. Back in the bathroom I saw Mike's beard dripping with water and his bag tied with a little bow around his neck where he had made his head hole too big and I lost it. We laughed at each other and how I looked like sponge bob square pants with my over-sized bag. I raided the paper towel dispenser and stuffed my jersey with paper towels in an attempt to add an insulating layer. Several cycles of opening the door followed by retreating occurred. We eventually ventured out after the rain had mostly stopped. Upon getting to the ranger gatehouse at Elena Gallegos, Mike decided to finish the ride (since his Jeep was at Copper) and I was only thinking of the most direct way home. Heading down the hill on Simm's Park Rd. I spun furiously in my granny gear while grabbing brake to keep my speed down. The rain and wind picked up again and after about five minutes I saw a Starbucks sign and bee lined for it. I ordered a medium coffee and spilled a fair amount of it on the counter with all of my shivering. I stood around, sipping coffee, waiting for the rain to subside and eventually gave up and headed back out. I spun my way down Tramway and onto Comanche where several local asshole drivers didn't bother to use the inside westbound lane and sprayed me with a wave of water coming off of the side streets. The bike lane was like a river. As I lost elevation and neared Louisiana the sun started to reappear and I welcomed the bit of warmth as I rode the rest of the way home. All in all an epic ride and one that I will not easily forget.
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