PERILS OF EARLY MORNING CYCLING

     I love cycling early.  For years I'd ride what is essentially the Dam Loop on Sunday mornings with wheels down ten minutes before sunrise.  Starting at Big Lots I could get through the subdivisions and hit 360 as the sun rose.   Then I began riding with BSS on Sunday so got away from it.  For the past few weeks I've gone out early, but now it is north to Walburg.  The problem is leaving the house before you can see the sky.  I start from Old Settlers Park, a twenty minute drive.
     It's not like I don't monitor the weather.  At 5:30 am this morning the radar was clear and the forecast was for 5% chance of rain, increasing to 15% by 9:00 am.  Wind out of the south at 8-10 increasing to 12-15.  Walburg is generally north-south, so I planned to pedal hard going up and noodle my way back against the wind.  Maybe a PR on CR 119.  At 6:15 am, in the parking lot of OSP, I checked the weather channel again and all was clear.  I always protect my eyes, so I had my sun glasses on, although when I pushed off they were down a bit on my nose and I peered over the top.  Perhaps I should have paid more attention to the darkness to the south.
     Regular Readers know that when Austin has a wind forecast of 10-15 mph you can bet it will be 15-20 in Williamson County.  As one old timer once told me, think of riding against the wind as if you were climbing a mountain.  Anyway, I wasn't real thrilled, but resigned to getting buffeted for three hours.  Twenty seconds into the ride I felt a bit of rain on my back.  Oh No!  Not my clean bike!!  I just cleaned it a few days ago after our foray to Granger Lake and the surprise shower.
     I did a quick U-turn in time for a harder downpour (not really a downpour, but enough to get me wet in a few seconds).  Back up the hill, into the parking lot, dragged open the car door and tossed the bike in, followed shortly by me.  Pook, ding-fu!
     The first thing I did was check radar, still clear.  Then I deleted the rides from Strava and Garmin.  Then I thought about my future (like, immediate future).  I couldn't trust radar and the forecast called for increasing chance of rain in the morning, better by this afternoon.  Rain or not, the wind was only going to get more intense as the day progressed.  Bah!  I pulled the plug and drove back home.  Looks like tomorrow will be my long ride day.  Being old and retired gives a certain flexibility to the ride schedule.
       Maybe next week.  BTW, there are other perils of early cycling, just nothing else today.