# Helluva Rain Ride



## gpcyclist25 (Mar 22, 2011)

Anybody else do the Ramapo Rally today? Guy I talked to from the club said that they got maybe 1/3 of what they expected.

I was one of maybe 30 or so dudes (no women apparently) stupid enough to ride the century in continuous torrential rain. Hell of the Northeast, without the pave, I guess. Didn't find out until now that it was a record-setting day for rainfall.

Now I gotta spend a couple of hours tomorrow disassembling the bike and emptying out all the water.


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

Sounds like about 2/3 of the people and all of the women showed some common sense. Why would you want to ride 100 miles in the rain? Is it because you already paid the registration fee?


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## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

Good showing at the Revolutionary Tri, but yeah - crazy rainfall kept me inside & on the trainer for my effort today.


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## climbingcue (Aug 25, 2010)

I was planning on doing the 125 route, but once I saw the weather I just turned off my alarm off and slept in. I would not have done a 100 mile ride in yesterday's weather if someone paid me $250. So you are much braver and hardcore than I will ever be.

Bill


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## gpcyclist25 (Mar 22, 2011)

You're asking the same questions I did, at 4:30 in the morning, trying to decide what to do. I assume the other 30 had the same thoughts.

Part of me said, well, driving up 1.5 hours to ride 100 in what promises to be rain is pretty damn stupid. Between crap visibility, traction, braking issues, and potholes masquerading as puddles, and possibly, lightning, this could shape up to be an act of infamous stupidity.

The other part said, well, any supported century is a good training opp, especially with the climbing in this one (5700'). Plus, I'm allegedly doing the GFNJ in a couple of weeks and don't want to do too poorly there. And there's always the chance that the weather will clear up. And much of cycling to me is testing myself. And, of course, the opportunity to tell people later of how stupid/hardcore it was.

You know which part won. 

I'm glad its over. I rode the first half with a small group that made it into a hammerfest, which was a mistake for me, as I blew up and got dropped around mile 55. Thinking I was lost at one point, I ended up hooking up with a slower group and finished it out fairly casually. The rain never let up - apparently something like 4 inches of rain fell in the area. Between the rain falling and pelting one in the face, and the muck kicked up in the paceline by the guy in front of you, it was a messy day.

The 125 mile route was "cancelled" because of all of the water running off Schooley Mt. In reality, I can't imagine they would've gotten more than 1 or 2 guys to do it otherwise. The runoff in general was pretty deep and I'm going to have to spend a couple of hours today taking apart the bike and emptying out the water.

Anyway, there's the rain ride story, or as I like to call it, Hell of the Northeast 2011.


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## mas0328 (Aug 15, 2011)

I went out with the first century group (roughly 15 group A riders) but went off the back after the first rest stop. I proceeded to do the metric century pretty much by myself. Luckily, I was wearing a very visible neon yellow rain jacket and the drivers in the area were awesome and gave me plenty of room; many of them had a 'wtf are you doing in this rain' look on their faces.

The rest stops were well stocked with Gatorade, cookies, fruits, Clif bars etc.
They had sandwiches, cake, snacks and plenty of beverages at the finish.

I was told they had a record number of people signing up this year.


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## gpcyclist25 (Mar 22, 2011)

I don't know if I was the first or second group - I had a small mechanical so I had to catch up with the foursome that I had joined up with in the parking lot. The chase took a little out of me, and when I got there, we pretty much blew up the paceline. These guys weren't much into the rest stops - 5 mins each at most, skipping the second one. By 55 in I was cooked.

Apparently USPS rider Tony Cruz rode with the 62 group. That should've been a hint.


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## wsss (Jul 15, 2010)

*Fun rain ride*

I rode the in the B* Metric. Started with about 30 riders, which broke up into many smaller groups through the day . Coming back from the turn around point the group really started to break up and riding solo without the cue sheet, I missed a turn and ended up riding the century course. After I caught two of the century guys they gave me directions back. There I saw one of the guys in my earlier group also off course.. We rode the rest of the day together picking up one of the few woman (maybe 4 in our begining group) and riding for a while. I stopped at one point to see if a fellow rider needed any help with his flat. 
I purchase a cheap rain jacket before the ride. Within two minutes I had a wet rear end, but it was a help as it kept me warm. The part I hated the most was getting tire spray in the face following a bike. Got home with 76miles showing on the Garmin. 
Spent a good 1.5 hrs taking apart and cleaning the bike to dry out the frame.


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## gpcyclist25 (Mar 22, 2011)

Yeah, same. Leaving it on the repair stand overnight with the seatpost out to see if that dries it out some more. May remove the cranks and see how the bottom bracket's doing.


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## AlanE (Jan 22, 2002)

Riding in the rain is not advised. Riding into a flood is really not advised.

As more wet weather nears, N.J. dries out after drenching weekend | NJ.com


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## Squidly (May 17, 2011)

Rule #9  people.


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## bruin11 (May 21, 2004)

I did the Gran Fondo in Philly on Sunday. They say a 1000 or so of the 1500 that signed up rode in that torrential rain. They cancelled the longer 108 mile ride because of flooding so most did the 73 mile ride. Awesome experience.


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## gpcyclist25 (Mar 22, 2011)

bruin11 said:


> I did the Gran Fondo in Philly on Sunday. They say a 1000 or so of the 1500 that signed up rode in that torrential rain. They cancelled the longer 108 mile ride because of flooding so most did the 73 mile ride. Awesome experience.


That's awesome, man. Frankly, half the reason I even did it was because I'm signed up for GFNJ and needed the climbing work. Of course, I had to strip down the bike today all the way down to the bottom bracket, and found out that my headset has got some rust, but what the hell. I guess a headset is worth a good story.


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## ayzen (Sep 4, 2011)

wow, riding in record fall rain and emptying out the remains. thats something.


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