Wow! What a change from a few weeks ago......
The smoke actually cleared out overnight, making today the obvious choice to have a big ride - Woodruff of course. Checking the forecast the night before made it appear to be a "typical" Woodruff ride; headwinds both directions, some heat with "a thunderstorm around". Getting out about 30 minutes behind schedule, I was riding with a sense of urgency for the first couple hours. The wind in South Fork posed a minor issue, but times to key point were pretty good. A minor adjust on the bike, jumping to the small ring up front a little sooner, and running a set of R3's rather than the Vitorias from last week. It all seemed to pay-off as thing were pretty good, if not a bit routine.
About 10 miles out of Woodruff, I saw a rabbit (another rider) up ahead. Amazingly, I didn't see him earlier. Perhaps he'd flatted and just got back on his bike. It only took a few minutes and I "reeled him in", then blew right past him. Looked like a long distance tourist type. After negotiating some road space from a bunch of cows, I was able to make it into town fairly fast. The last half of the descent was a little tricky with strong wind gusts out of the north - not forecasted. Just before hitting town, lighting starts hitting all over the place. I decided to hang around for a little while - until things improved. About 15 minutes after I pulled in, the other guy I passed strolled in. Come to find out, he was from Cincinnati and had dropped off a van for some heavy modifications. He left SLC Monday and was just out seeing the area for the week while they worked on his outfit. He also rode for a charity - a children's hospital in his area. Not long after, things looked clear, so I thought it best to get over the mountain before it changed again.
Up to the top in pretty fast order (wind and all), it was still pretty cool and I was feeling rather confident. I was certain today was going to be a complete ride with some extra climbing at the end. As I headed across the top of Monte, it became obvious things were deteriorating quickly. Still, I was determined to push on and not stop. I know what happens after that. Only a few miles down, I started to feel a few raindrops. At 40 MPH, they kind of hurt, but still, I wasn't even thinking of stopping. Just passed the snowmobile parking lot, I could hear a distant rumble of thunder. From the looks when up top, I was hoping it was further to the south, as I could see it pouring that far back. Pretty soon, it was a deluge and lighting was getting closer. By MP 31, lightning was directly overhead - too close for me. I pulled off and walked up a dirt road about 250' to a cabin with an overhang. There I waited for nearly 45 minutes until the lightning was gone. Back on the road, I immediately got extremely cold - which is highly unusual for me. Shaking so bad, it was hard to hold the bars. Just before Red Cliff, it started again. So, again I pulled off and waited. Just as I was getting ready to leave, the guy from Cinci pulled in ( he got a ride from a Forest Service truck for a while). He decided to head for Ogden for the night. I told him to stay on my wheel and I'd get us to Huntsville, where I'd call for a pickup. From there we took him down the canyon to the Junction, where he could easily get what he needed. Not exactly how I'd planned it for the day.
Still, I logged 118 miles and feel pretty good. Everything got soaked, but still ran great. Now I need to get ready for the ride on Saturday morning and make the next assessment.
Ride HARD!
