Weather, Whether You Like It or Not

Bicycling, as you know, is an outdoor sport. I'm sure you also know the old adage about the weather ... everyone complains about it, but nobody does anything about it. Today is Earth Day, so maybe it's time to do something about it.

This past Wednesday, I cycled up Tantalus, the high point in the hills above Honolulu. It was looking a bit rainy, and half way up the mountain, the clouds were closing in and the roads were wet. A light rain was falling. I paused, intending to turn around and go back down, but then I saw a break in the clouds further up the road, so decided to go for it. I reached the summit in glorious sunshine, and had a fast and dry descent.

Thursday, it was a day for gusty winds and the threat of more showers. We rode from Kahala through Hawaii Kai, through Waimanalo, then on to an early lunch in Kailua. Not much rain, reasonable winds, so I tacked on an extra trip to finish in Kahala, do a bit of shopping, then return to home in Hawaii Kai to bring my mileage above a metric century for the day.

Saturday, it was really windy. Strong gusts nearly picked me up coming around the Ka Iwi shoreline between Hanauma Bay and Sandy Beach. Fortunately, there was a five foot shoulder at the exact point where a sudden gust moved me three feet sideways. I had to return home quickly after lunch in Kailua, because we were supposed to be at a friend's house for a barbeque. The winds favored me, and I got back in time for a quick shower and off the the barbeque.

The point of all this? Exactly two months from yesterday, we will be dipping our tires in the Pacific Ocean near Astoria, Oregon, then rolling eastward on our 59-day journey. The first couple hundred miles, we are likely to see a bit of rain (the Oregon coast), a good bit of windy weather (the Columbia River gorge), a climb into the mountains (Montana) where there is always the chance that we could catch a few flakes of snow (admittedly rare in lat June), then across the plains where we could potentially see head winds, summer storms, or 100 degree temperatures, through places like Wisconsin where the mosquitoes dwell, and into the high humidity of the east coast. There's no way to predict in advance exactly what kind of weather we will encounter, but the weather always has an impact on bicycle rides.

Got to be ready for every eventuality, but at least we have a van that will carry the bulk of our equipment. For a specific day, we might need to carry along sunscreen, rain gear, bug repellent, extra fluid, a warm layer, a cool layer, and always, some chamois butter and chain lubricant.

To all my fellow cyclists, in all sorts of weather, the traditional bicyclist's toast:  May the wind be always at your back.