Warm and Windy River Ride

Another warm muggy day, with afternoon storms forecast, so I left late morning to go to Karen's Ice Cream and Produce Stand, in Auriesville, for lunch. It's about 22 miles each way, much of it on the Mohawk River Bike Path.

The sky still looked OK when I hit Amsterdam, the last turnaround point, so I continued on. Reached Karen's, and had a pulled pork sandwich with chips and 2 lemonades. It was a thirsty day. I also spiked my remaining Gatorade bottle with a little extra salt, just to be sure on the way home.

When I started for home, I saw very dark clouds in my rearview mirror. Then I started doing the math. If I average 15 mph, and the storm 30 mph, and I have 1.5 hours to the car, then as long as the storm is currently more than about 23 miles behind me, I win the race. I also started thinking about possible shelters along the way, mostly involving underpasses. Both of these items kept me pushing the pace a bit, albeit into a strong headwind. As it turned out, I only got a few sprinkles a few miles from the car, and the rain held off until after I was home and dry.