I extended my Christmas holiday through today thinking it would be the last chance to get in a long ride before the weather turned wet.

The skies were overcast when I left the house, but the weather report said the rain should hold off so I headed up Hwy 9 to Saratoga Gap. About 2/3 of the way up the fog got thick and the temps dropped. Right at the top the raindrops started. I Thought about high-tailing it back down the hill and home, but being the optimist I made the assumption that it was just a few sprinkles - boy was that wrong.

Turned north along Skyline, then down Page Mill in a steady rain. I am no great descender, but with wet roads, I'm even more cautious, so the payoff for doing the climb was riding the brakes to scrub off speed - and feet that felt like blocks of ice by the time I got to bottom of Page Mill.

Headed for Los Altos for hot coffee and a muffin at Peets and towards home on Foothill, where I got my first flat in 6 months (rear tire of course). Found a tree to hide out from the rain while I changed the tube and bolted back home to Saratoga for a long hot shower. 42 miles, 3500+ feet of climbing. Stupid weathermen!