A Good Call

I did a road ride up to Jamesport today and I can say without a doubt that not riding yesterday was the right decision.  Leaving Chillicothe the gravel roads didn't look too bad but the further north I went there was more snow that was lingering and the rest that had melted was making the ditches and creeks run strong.  A couple spots the ditches had so much water that it overflowed and spilled over the road.  The gravel roads were still very wet and lots of muddy stuff, would have been rough on the bikes.

At The Mercy (Or No Mercy) Of The Weather

I hate to post this as this is the second year that we are (hopefully) postponing our annual ride, we will look into a future date but with so many other rides out now we will have to see.  The current forecast for Saturday is looking really good for temps but with the all day of rain on this past Saturday and roughly 8" of snow the roads are looking to be a sludge/mud mess.  We started this ride to be a challenging fun ride but with these conditions we are afraid the challenge will be keeping your bike functional by the end, to much of an opportunity to ruin a drive train and that is no fun.  I took my fat bike out Saturday and it was a sloppy slushy nasty ride, I had a truck pass me and sprayed me with slush and it froze to my shoes and pant leg (looked like I blew my nose all over myself...not a bad look for me).

Below is the email that Doug sent out to the Green Hills Group.

I hate to say it but Chucky can't see his shadow because he's either looking in a snowdrift or a puddle.

 

I hope Chucky can swim.

 

I can take cold and dry.  I can take cold and snow.  I can take warm and dry.  What I can't take are roads that resemble puddles and mud holes.  Momma nature just keeps playing with my "mojo" with all this extreme temp changes.  Throw in 8 inches of snow, two days of thaw, 2 days of deep freeze and new snow.  Forecast is for warming Friday and Saturday.  I rode 30 miles of gravel/lime sludge on Tuesday and it was anything but fun and I spent two hours cleaning my bike and washing clothes.  That lime sludge is death to a drive train.

Chucky's Challenge was created to be a challenging, but fun, ride in the winter to encourage training in the winter and get excited about spring.  Riding in wet muck is not in the spirit of the created ride. 

Chucky's is not happening Saturday.  I'd say let's do it the following weekend but there is another gravel ride planned for that weekend.

We can keep an eye on the future weather and peek at the Gravel Grind schedule and see if we can find a weekend to reschedule.  I'll keep you posted when I know more.

Looks like we are getting some warm temps this weekend.  Maybe a road ride, but forget the gravel/sludge.

 

Doug