Who said this was supposed to be a rest week?

...dodging torrential rains

Hmmm... my riding and training plans did not call for this past week to be a rest week - but that's almost what it was.

We had an absolutely wild weather week here in the Boston area - and I think across most of the northeast. We seem to be in a funky weather pattern this year; a week of rain, a decent week, a week of rain... And this past week wasn't solid rain, but it was threatening torrential rains. It would be sunny one moment, and the next moment would bring very dark skies and rain drops so thick you couldn't see between them. Rain drops? No, more like falling buckets!

I suppose I could have viewed this week as training for Ireland (where I do expect to do my share of riding in the rain), but somehow showing up at work totally soaked didn't appeal to me. Plus, I don't think my usual bike parking place (in a supply closet in the office) would have been available to me if I waltzed in with a dripping bicycle!

This was the first week in ages that I haven't managed to commute to work by bike at all. I've been pretty successful at riding to work 2 to 3 times a week ever since I started this bike commuting back in April. Not to worry, I have a good mileage base, and I still managed to grab a couple of very short rides when I arrived home to find unexpectedly dry conditions, and I was able to ride yesterday and today too. My mileage for the week was 95 miles, not bad, but only two thirds of my normal weekly riding - and less than I hoped for the week. I actually toyed with the idea of riding to Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Saturday, staying overnight, and riding back today, but I let the weather forecast scare me away. The high probability of rain in the forecast didn't result in much; it actually was a fairly dry weekend from a rain standpoint, but it was still pretty unpleasant riding weather because of the very high humidity. I came home from my rides absolutely dripping wet, and the temperature was only in the low 80s.

If I'd had a week like this before my Hawaii trip (and without a summer's worth of mileage on my legs and my wheels) I might have been in a bit of a panic. But I'm feeling good, and a lighter riding week was probably good for me. It's hard to believe this, but I leave for Ireland in just 20 days! I'm figuring on two good solid weeks of riding, then I'll have a bit of a rest before I take off. And I'll probably try to fit in one or two short rides the week of August 25th, then a very long journey by plane and train beginning on August 29th and ending on the 30th.

Here's hoping that the weather cooperates over the next few weeks; the forecast calls for this wet pattern to continue through most of the upcoming week, so I may need to be creative in finding the appropriate amount of riding time.

The days are flying by too fast to count them!