Walton Watch

Wear the Jacket !

This past week I was looking forward to a nice long Saturday morning bike ride. One of those rides like last weekend in Heber where the air is nippy but not cold and the fall leaves are in full color; the kind of riding day you dream about. All week long after such a great ride I was ready for another opportunity for one of those banner days before winter settles in. Looking at the weather forecast and seeing a 90% chance of rain I still had hope that if we went early enough we could catch the day before the storm . Scott and I talked on Thursday and the plan was set for a sunrise ride up Mill creek canyon. We started out foregoing jackets as we knew we had the storm beat. We would be back before the day even really started.

We rode along heading up to Highland drive and then turned up 39th south East to Wasatch Blvd. As we reached Wasatch the rain was upon us and the wind was blowing pretty hard from the South. At this point we thought - hey we ought to turn and just go along Wasatch and then cut back home as we reach the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. The stretch of Wasatch was cold and into a direct rain - but as we reached the mouth of the canyon the storm seemed to have stopped so we decided that being only a little wet we needed to get more riding in and not let the storm tell us what to do with our day. We headed straight on Wasatch rather than turning for home. At this point the storms recognizing our challenged decided it was time to return - and return it did. We made it no further than Creek Road and realized that we were not simply riding in a cool fall day. It was as if we had entered Gavia Pass circa 1988 in the Giro d'Italia (see photo below). Our shoes were wet and squishing water out the sides with each pedal stroke. The descent down Creek Road was invigorating as the rain squashed any semblance of braking ability the bike once had. It was then we reached the point that we turned to each other and stated - we are ready for the warmth of a shower and the comfort of the indoor trainer. Lance Armstrong once said - "there is no such thing as bad weather - only bad equipment". I believe this is true, but only when you actually remember to use the equipment that you have. Scott and I both have the correct gear for such a day - but we tried to get along without it even when we knew the weather report and the impending chance of rain.

As I spend the rest of the weekend dry and warm listening to General Conference I realized that my heading out into the rain on my bike taking on the storm without regard for being prepared is not far from the way I often approach life; I am stronger than the rain and by sheer will It will not rain If I don't want it to. Like staying dry on a bike by putting on a jacket or booties In our life it is pretty easy to remember to do the basic things that give us spiritual strength - but all too often we forge on ahead without the rain jacket or booties only to find ourself scrambling more than we would have to if we had only remembered the simple step of putting on the jacket.

Just to note:

Thanks to Tom Mortimer I had no choice but to get the cool Garmin forerunner training toy. Yes it is a toy - at this stage in my life I am not "returning to professional cycling for win #8" so all the stats I get really just give me that chance to personally gloat in my own performance increases. I have to say though that it is quite motivating to see what you have done and see what you can do better. Any ride or run you do you can take the data and download it into the computer. From there you can make cool graphs like the one shown above or have the data mapped out to show your route. If you are really crazy you can even import the data into Google Earth and see the "lay of the land" for the ride just completed.

There will still be some great rides out of doors for 2008 as long as there is no snow on the ground. The plan will be to be better prepared for when the rain comes. As I was reminded in more than one way this weekend - there is no such thing as bad weather - only remembering to be smart enough to put on the jacket.