I had not planned on doing the TdB due to the weather, but I kept checking the dopplar radar from 4:00 am on Sat. morning and decided to give it a go, as it appeared that there would be only brief, passing showers. Wrong.

I paid the full $75 to get a wet workout for (hopefully) this year's RAMROD. Spent a lot of time cursing my inability to dial in the indexing of my rear derailleur. I didn't see any repair stands at any of the rest stops. I saw a guy have a pedal fall off his crankarm, which made my problems seem trivial.

While I was essentially waterlogged (bibshorts and light wind shell) I wasn't that cold. When I stopped at the top, I was cold but not shivering. The SAG wagons were filling up with riders who didn't want to do the descent. The thing is, there are enough climbs in both directions to warm oneself on, if one works hard enough.

My Garmin 500 data confimed my suspicions about the temps. The average and minimum temps were 5 degrees warmer than the wet Saturday on which this year's Skagit Spring Classic was held, where I was truly borderline hypothermic.