Rose Pedals . . .: When Hail Attacks

Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Day 8 - Jackson, Wyoming to Montpelier, Idaho
117 miles
4,834 ft. of climbing

Today's ride ran the gamut in terms of weather, levels of comfort and emotion. This morning started with a peaceful ride through the valley. The temperature was cool, but not cold, and winds were calm. We rode through the Snake River region, on a quiet, smooth road amidst majestic mountains. You could see that some of the leaves have already started to change color high in the mountains. As the morning went on, the wind started to pick up and became a moderate headwind. Nothing too strenuous, and the fact that I rode much of the morning in pace lines, sharing the work, made riding in the mild headwind essentially a non-issue. Around mile 72, however, the headwind really picked up and the sky stared to spritz raindrops. As is usually the case, the spritzing turned into steady rain as we rode. Something I didn't expect, however - it started to hail. Then it started to hail harder. Within minutes, large globules of icy hail the size of bowling balls (okay, not really the size of bowling balls, but pretty big - at least the size of big marbles) came pouring out of the sky, hitting us like pellets. It really stung when it hit the skin! At this point Art, Andrew & I were only about 6 miles from our lunch stop and we are completely drenched and getting attacked by a storm of mutant hailstones - in a headwind, no less! When I arrived at lunch, I was soaked, freezing, and reeling from the sudden and adverse change in the weather, to which I was basically defenseless because I had not carried my rain gear with me, which, I'm ashamed to say, has become my M.O. Rather, I had put my rain gear in the lunch trailer, as it was my hunch that it would not rain until later in the afternoon, even though the weather forecast showed a slight chance of rain earlier in the afternoon. In any event, I was able to retrieve my rain gear at lunch (classic example of closing the barn door after the horse escapes) and, after warming up at lunch with a hot cup of tea, Susan loaning me her tights, and Veronica loaning me her long-fingered gloves, I was able to continue the ride. From lunch, we had another 40 miles or so to go, which included two climbs and then a long,10-mile descent into Montpelier. While the rain let up, the headwind did not, but, absent the rain and militant hail, the headwind wasn't so bad. Eventually, the sun came out, and I was warm again. The first climb was a 6-mile, gentle climb up to the top of Salt Lake Pass. From there, we had a long descent, during which, at mile 99, we crossed over into the state of Idaho. At mile 105, we began our last climb of the day, which was a 2-mile, steepish climb to Geneva Summit. From there, we enjoyed the 10-mile descent right into Montpelier Unfortunately, my speed on the descent was dampened by the headwind, but I didn't care - I was just happy to be warm and dry and not being battered by heavy artillery from the sky. We arrived at our hotel in Montpelier just before 4 p.m., which gave us plenty of time to clean up our bikes, do our laundry (lots of wet, dirty clothes), and walk over to the local Dairy Queen-like burger joint / ice cream shop, called "Arctic Circle," for a fine dining experience. I say "fine dining" because, although you order your food at the counter, by the number, they actually bring it out to you when it is ready, rather than you having to go get it. Highfalutin. Many people from our group were there at Arctic Circle, and we had a good time sitting with folks and talking about the day's ride. I look back on today's ride with pride and amazement - pride that I was able to persevere through adverse conditions and not only complete the day's ride, but enjoy it; and amazement that heavy hail can actually bruise the skin. No kidding, my arms and legs have little red marks where the hail hit me. Battle scars. My own fault - that wouldn't have happened had I carried my darned rain gear. Someday, I'll get it right. I hope. : )
Tomorrow, we cross back over into Wyoming with a ride to Evanston, Wyoming. No rain in the forecast!