Riding into the Tempest - Or a ride with three different types of weather!

Tim sent out the invites for a ride to Xenia. So I drove out the trailhead and Tim was already waiting. I then re-met Gary. I am horrible with names and Gary walks up to me and I asked if we had met before. He responded yes, and I was immediately stumped. I forced him to tell me because I was embarrassed. We had met at work during a project his company was helping out with. So Bill showed up a few mintes later and forgot his helmet and gloves, but we shoved off anyway. Bill and Gary didn't have many miles under their belt so this would be their longest ride of the season for the two.

It was almost 75 when we left. The wind started to kick up as we left the trailhead but it was coming out of the south so it pushed us around on the path. We passed through London and then once we started out toward Xenia the wind really picked up. At one point Tim was pushed off the trail and we stopped to check the weather and regain composure. We continued on through South Charleston and Cedarville riding into the fierce headwind/crosswind. The temps dropped into the upper 60's. We stopped a few times to discuss turning around because of the headwind, but ultimately decided to forge on.

In Xenia we headed over to Vergies West Virginia Slaw Dogs shop but it was closed permanently. We checked for other restaurants and headed over to the main drag but the sub shop listed on the map didn't exist. Not much going on in Xenia and we were disappointed we couldn't find a local restaurant. So we went to Pizza Hut.

After lunch we headed back over to the trail. We had a tailwind of at least 20mph. We knocked out the first two sections of the ride averaging 20-25mph. As we were riding we could tell the front was moving through when the temp dropped down into the upper 50's. When we got to South Charleston we crossed the last street crossing and we heard a yell in the back. Gary flatted his front tire so we went back to check it out. He was in the middle of the repair and a band of rain hit us, so we rode down to the rail station and took shelter. In the manner of a few minutes the rain stopped, the wind died down, and the sun came out. Tim finished out the repair and we set out again. We still had a tailwind into the trailhead. We finished with 76 miles and averaged 15.5mph. Great adventure!