Rainy day. May 18

 Last night’s forecast suggested that it would start raining about 3 am, and the rain would move through by mid-morning.  The storm didn’t cooperate and arrived a few hours late.  Our three strongest riders set out early, got drenched, but made the whole trip.  The rest of us sat watching it pour, checking radar for a lull in the storm.   Eventually, Ken loaded three of us in the van to get dropped off past the halfway point, freeing the van to carry others as necessary.  We three had a damp but easy 19 mile ride on a nice paved trail to our destination in Matteson, Illinois, a south Chicago suburb.  The other four riders proceeded to ride the whole distance, including a very muddy, wet first stretch on an unpaved trail, and arrived feeling quite proud to have successfully completed the trip.  I was a bit envious.

  

                                              John waiting in the lobby for a break in the rain.

                                          There’s a lot to be said for paved trails on a wet day.

Hope about to clean a very muddy bike.  The hotel staff gave us towels and put a hose from the laundry out a window so we could clean our bikes. Out bikes had a warm shower.