9 + 17 with rain in the middle

Part of the time the weather worked with me, but most of the time it worked against me.

I started in the sort of marginal conditions that I ride in all the time.  The sun was out but it was a little too hot and quite a bit too windy.  My standard response to strong west winds is downhill into the wind setting up the back uphill but with a tailwind.  This usually works pretty well.

An inevitable side effect of this approach is that having ridden a loop to the west I pass back fairly close to home after having ridden a few miles.

I was 7.56 miles into my ride and on the wrong side of Snelling when suddenly it was misty.  Misty means to me a fairly large amount of really small water particles but not really rain drops.

Still, 7.56 miles in I was less than 1.5 miles from home and mist seemed like a pretty good reason to turn back and get closer to the garage.

Sure enough as I got closer to home with something in the 8s on the odometer I was thinking about trying some near in loops to get to at least 10 when the mist turned to rain drops.  I got this photo from under the roof overhang of my garage with not quite 9 miles on the odometer.

I thought about getting out a lawn chair to just watch out there.  But I have technology inside the house for weather tracking so I locked up the bicycle and went inside.  I took off my shoes and helmet but stayed in my bike clothes and went down to the computer to view live weather radar.

I was looking at the radar thinking that the yellow and red stuff was all to my north and that there was a fairly good chance that if I just waited a few minutes I could go out and finish my ride.  Then the rain started to pelt against the window.

*sigh*

I hate a 9 mile ride.

I took my bike clothes off and moved upstairs.  After a bit though I noticed that it was unmistakably true that the sun was out and after a further small bit it was unmistakably true that it was mid-afternoon, the sun was out, the pavement was drying, the rain had slightly mitigated the heat and behind the rain the wind was abating.

So 9 + 17 with rain in the middle.

After I got home from the second bit it completely clouded up again and another kind of nasty bit of rain occurred.  At shortly after 6pm it was so dark out that it seemed as though night had arrived.

Then that passed and lo and behold it still really isn't night in the land of 15 hours days.  Day light returned yet again and TOPWLH is currently out enjoying a walk in what looks from in here like fairly pleasant conditions.

Contador and HIS team looked strong today.  My personal belief is that Froomy was sandbagging.  His medication program results start to look really, really suspicious if he is the absolute best rider on every single stage.  He doesn't need to and in fact can't afford to be THAT good.  He doesn't want to lead just yet.  Today he stayed near the front and lost no time without garnering significant camera time.

The race still has significant entertainment value.  To me this Kittle guy is lots and lots of fun.  Big German guy who absolutely shows up and absolutely produces in his situations.  Furthermore I think today's bicycle result absolutely foreshadows tomorrow's futbol.

I predict Deutschland dismisses the host country Brasil.  The combination of injury and suspension removing Brasil's two best players is just way, WAY too much for them to overcome.

Germany to the final.

Tour de France to France.