Summertime, and the local trails are pretty hot right now. I usually spend most of my riding time in the summer at the the San Bernardino mountains, but haven't really done a very good job of doing that so far, this year. And I especially love riding there when there's a chance that it might rain. I keep checking the weather report for the best opportunity for this. I didn't act on a forecast last week, and missed out, but the forecast predicted rain for Wednesday, so I had the Jeep loaded and ready to go on Tuesday night.
The mountain and the weather didn't disappoint. I staged at my usual place at Heart Bar, and the temps were cool enough to wear a winter jersey. I don't think the temperature ever hit 70, and probably was around mid 60s for the most part. Absolutely delightful. I also had an Acerbis packable rain jacket with me, that I ended up using for most of the ride. It certainly saved the day when the skies opened up.
Luckily, this storm didn't pack much lightning like most summer mountain storms do, so I never saw any lightning strikes on this ride. And that was just fine by me. I have seen way too many strikes on past rides, and uncomfortably close up, sometimes! Occasionally, when I stopped and cut the engine, I could hear muffled distant thunder. Rain was hit and miss, often just a light sprinkle, but once in a while the wind would whip up, and the sky would really let loose. There was a little hail from time to time too. So some spots on the route were dry, while others were quite nice, and some spots had some puddles. I didn't come across any other riders during the course of the day, but a few 4X4s were out. I ended up with 85 miles on the odometer, and a day that was hard to beat.
The mountain and the weather didn't disappoint. I staged at my usual place at Heart Bar, and the temps were cool enough to wear a winter jersey. I don't think the temperature ever hit 70, and probably was around mid 60s for the most part. Absolutely delightful. I also had an Acerbis packable rain jacket with me, that I ended up using for most of the ride. It certainly saved the day when the skies opened up.
Luckily, this storm didn't pack much lightning like most summer mountain storms do, so I never saw any lightning strikes on this ride. And that was just fine by me. I have seen way too many strikes on past rides, and uncomfortably close up, sometimes! Occasionally, when I stopped and cut the engine, I could hear muffled distant thunder. Rain was hit and miss, often just a light sprinkle, but once in a while the wind would whip up, and the sky would really let loose. There was a little hail from time to time too. So some spots on the route were dry, while others were quite nice, and some spots had some puddles. I didn't come across any other riders during the course of the day, but a few 4X4s were out. I ended up with 85 miles on the odometer, and a day that was hard to beat.
