I rousted Frank early. The Sunday morning group ride rolls out at 6:30 am from Twin Falls. As I put bikes in the truck I saw a sky full of stars, a good indicator for a beautiful morning ride. I have been crazed to show Frank our local Sunday morning group ride and now he was on Maui it was finally going to happen. It is a casually deliberate ride along the north shore of the Haleakala volcano – the windward side, which is also the wet side. Frank is from Seattle and actually prefers to ride in the rain, I knew a little rain would not scare him off. We start at dawn to avoid the mid-day heat. A brief rain storm is a welcome way to cool off and still be dry twenty minutes later.
Some light mist was hitting the windshield as we came around the volcano, the wipers went on. This grew into a healthy, steady rain. We passed one rider using a headlight and rear flasher. I couldn’t tell who he was but I knew he was heading where we were heading. No one would be out on a bike at this hour for any other mission. When we finally pulled into the gravel parking area it was a proper wind/rain event. I wanted to invoke Peter Van Petegem’s beautiful line about how this weather was good for us. If the sun was over the horizon, no light was penetrating the clouds. My wife pulled up in a second car just long enough to curse the weather gods, bid us a fond farewell and head to a drier, warmer part of the island for a more civilized ride. Most reasonable people would have done just that.
We are not reasonable people. A few more unreasonable guys showed up. A reasonable girlfriend/cyclists was overjoyed to hear my wife had departed, she did too, leaving her shivering man and his bike behind. Starting a long ride wet is never great but it is warm here and we would get some dry and sun eventually. This group of unreasonable cyclists rolled out in good spirits. This was the Sunday group ride.
Frank had his new ultra-light carbon climbing wheels and their braking in wet conditions needed to be understood. He likes his brake calipers set very open (which I don’t get) but it made the testing even more exciting. Even my aluminum rims were only partially effective on roads this wet, I felt like I was pulling on the levers half the ride. Frank said the carbon rims worked well in these conditions; he could feel warm water coming off the wheels in the corners.
We reached the half-way point where coffee and food are enjoyed at an outdoor but sheltered picnic table. This was by far the wettest of these rides I’ve ever done. I’m not sure the rain stopped for one minute. Frank was in his element; talking cycling and being wet. Even through the rain and mist he understood this was a special route.
From our coffee stop in Nahiku, the strong continue on to Hana and the not-as-strong start the long initial climb back, happy the climbing will eventually put some warmth under the soaked lycra. Frank went to Hana, I headed back.
A friend and I spent the return ride diagnosing an annoying click coming from his bike. The rain never let up. Every descent was done squinting into the wet, hoping the piss poor visibility was sufficient to avoid mayhem. A moment behind another rider meant a face full of water coming off his rear wheel.
By the time I returned to the truck I had eaten everything in my pockets and rifled the glove box in the vain hope of finding something else edible. Every part of my kit was soaked many times through. Frank returned a bit later, buoyant, not the least bit annoyed at the weather. This was not a Rule #9 ride; we were not bad-asses for going out in these conditions, but we are not normal people.
This was a great ride.
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@graham d.m.
Glad you enjoyed it. I've put my time in in NH. Brrrrrr. Mo bettah hea'.
@Dan_R
Your wheels are testing through the roof! Perfect for climbing, great in the rain, great on rough descents.
If Frank takes these on the Cogal and they survive, we will all need a pair.
@Gianni You are a New Englander originally, right?
That was a great ride. Incredible scenery, and for anyone who is paying any attention at all, they'll see the beautiful landscape more clearly through the clouds and rain. The clouds give a dimension to the hillside that the sun could never hope to provide, and the rain washes away all the fools who are unwilling to weather it. Rule 9 leaves those who are ready to absorb the message.
And, as great as I felt on Sunday, this is how I felt but two days later.
@unversio
I ride my brakes very loose; for Shimano riders out there, I adjust my brakes so they are tight when cammed, then uncam them completely. On Campa, I will loosen the cable nut and hold the brake shut completely, then release it a bit before locking the bold down. Basically, I want to lock the wheel when I have the lever all the way up against the handlebar.
This does a few things, but mostly it lets me feather the brakes better; I hold the brake in my hand comfortably from the drops without having to keep my fingers extended and without having the pads touching the rims. Then I can flex my fingers to do as much braking as I need to.
This also keeps the brakes so wide that the rims don't ever touch the brakes when I'm standing (I am big, heavy, fat, and "powerful" so when I climb out of the saddle or sprint, the rims easily touch the brake pads.)
@Deakus, @wiscot
This was most unique - warm water in the rain...strange. Very pleasant. I've been diving headlong into 40 minute hot showers after my rides back home.
@Dan_R
Regarding the warm water - I was in no mood to test the upper limits of the wheels or my gluing job, but under the circumstances, my confidence is buoyed. The major difference was that while with alu rims you hit the brakes, wait for the water to get rubbed off before any "slowing down" happens, and then use the brakes normally, carbon is somewhat different.
You hit the brakes, nothing happens - so you hit them harder, until hot water hits your face, presumably from the heating of the rim. At this point, the drying of the rim is accelerated and moments later, the pads will grab on the rim like it's dry. If you are over braking because you don't trust the rim, this could cause a face-plant. If you understand how the rims work, then they will brake normally. Basically, it means you just hold the pads to the rims for a bit before you need to use them. Helps to know the route, as it turns out.
The rain here in Abu Dhabi would be fairly similar in temperature I imagine but is far from welcome when cycling.
Because it rains so infrequently, plus there is so much heavy traffic on the roads where we ride, any rainfall mixes with months of accumulated oil, diesel, dirt, sand and everything else that drops off construction vehicles, trucks and buses to make a filthy paste.
It's slippery, dirty and gets thrown up into your face and all over the bike. My V-jersey still has the stain marks of being caught in it before Christmas, despite several washes.
On the other hand I do know the pleasant feeling of warm and welcome rain from my days living in Darwin, in the tropical north of Australia. You would have several months of 'the build-up' between the end of the dry season and waiting for the wet season.
They called it Mango Madness time, because it was when the ubiquitous mango trees would ripen and drop fruit everywhere, so there was a pervasive smell of rotting fruit. It fellt like you were going crazy waiting for the rain - it was humid and sticky like in the wet season but without the benefit of the daily downpour. And it was the time of year when there were more cases of domestic abuse and other violent crime. Then the rains would come, 3pm every day, and everyone was so relieved - you would happily stand in the torrential, but warm, rain with thunder and lightning all around.
My favourite story from the NT was a disgruntled insurance company customer who loaded a shopping trolley with gasoline and fireworks, went into the local brach and set fire to the lot. He was so inept the managed to set off the fireworks but not the gasoline; but the real kicker was no one thought it was unusual in the slightest.
I have fond memories of warm rain, first as a boy in Milton MA. and then on O'ahu in '02. I just loved being out in it and not cold. Thanks Gianni.
I love that warm rain. It's Monsoon season here and so I tend to get wet at least once a day with my "daily shower". The thunderstorms can be so hard that you can feel the water flowing under your wheels as you ride up hill And in the low spots in the road water can be up to you chain.