During the RMCC RUSA 10th Anniversary 200K I had the opportunity to keep my head low and battle a headwind in blowing rain and fog which provided me 10 slow miles of solitude. During this time it occurred to me that the Eskimos have over 100 words describing snow, so surely brevet riders must have a few words of their own (that would be printable in this forum) to describe rain, types of rain, and the various subtleties and experiences one has while riding a bike in rain. I came up with a short list of all the kinds of rain, weather, and consequences of the weather that I experienced during this ride.

Catherine Shenk, John Lee Ellis, Will deRosset, and Tom Knoblauch showing off their medals at the finish. Catherine Shenk and JLE at Elbert control

Denaing: Dense fog with rain Litera: Light rain Raindo: Down pour rain Freowan: Freezing Blowing Rain Rablofog: Blowing Rain and Fog Frizzle: Foggy Drizzle Blizzle: Blowing drizzle Brizzle: Blowing drizzle in a headwind Swozzle: Blowing drizzle with a sidewind Swrain: Rain with a sidewind Blain: Blinding Rain Frain: Rain and Fog Rog: Dense Fog Brog: Blowing Dense Fog Bullrain: Rain in your face that feels like little bullets Briders: Riders just ahead that disappear in the thick fog Crackain: Rain down my shorts Aaakrain: Cold rain down my shorts Crashain: I can’t see a thing rain! Socodone: Soggy Cold I am ready to be done with this ride rain Gustoain: Gusty blinding, fogging your glasses rain Imista: I missed a turn because of the rain Whelsukrain: Rain that splashes in your face from drafting Gritain: Rainy grit that splashed up in your face from the wheel in front and little grits get stuck in your teeth rain. Also known to pit glasses. Frain: Riding a 200K in Rain with Friends Sunline: The line of sunshine that you can see but you never cross throughout the entire ride. You are in the rain and the sun is “out there”, like a mirage. Slurpain: rain that drips off your face that you drink instead of using a waster bottle. Suckerain: The brief moment that the rain stops and you think it is going to end so you take your clothes off only to have put them back on when the down pour begins again.

And these are only the ones I experienced during this 200K!

You know though brevet riding is about showing up and doing the ride in the spirit of the sport. I was glad I could be there to honor all the people who have put in so much time, effort, and thoughtfulness developing routes so to make randonneuring possible in the United States and elsewhere.

Plus, we RMCC randonneurs are not wimps! In brevet riding there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing and dubious lighting! We were all prepared and so we sloshed ahead, fording wash-outs and blazing though thick fog, guided by John Ellis shouting out turns because he knew the route by Braille: “Head past two pot holes and make a left!” “Make a right at the next cow!”

Our spirits were high the entire day because we knew we were part of a national event where other randonneurs were smiling as they made their way on routes in the bright sunlight on windless days, somewhere, and you know, I felt sorry for them because, well, in the end how interesting would their tale be? What would they have to share? “Oh look, I have a tan line…”

Meanwhile, at controls we filled our water bottles and poured water from our gloves and wrung out our hats. Each ignored the small pools of water squishing in their shoes. And still we talked, because we are not wimps, about how the day offered much – fuzzy cows, many bird species, and the tactics of fording the occasional new lake created in the road. We discussed “what could be worse”. Plenty! It could be a 300K! It could be dark! The control could be out of hot dogs and coffee! Crisis!

For my ride, the weather added a unique perspective to my memory of the event and gives some interesting color to the story. (Note: I did find a worm on my bike afterward, not unlike the slugs of France that many PBPers know of from 2007.)

All kidding aside the highlight for me was the honor to ride with my fellow RMCCers who were also crazy enough to come ride and celebrate RUSA’s 10th in crappy Colorado weather. I feel so lucky to know such people and to have had the opportunity to spend a 200K with them and I hope to someday ride with the other RUSA members who also celebrated the 10th on their bikes.

By the way, there were about 20 seconds of dim hazy sun and John Lee Ellis mentioned he thought he saw his shadow. I don’t know how that bodes for the rest of the brevet series – 6 more weeks of riding perhaps? We’ll see!