95 miles, 3940 feet climbed
It wasn’t raining when we walked to breakfast this morning at 6 am, but that didn’t hold. By 7 am a pretty good rain was coming down. It let up eventually, but then came back with a vengeance.
Here is a historic building that I photographed between the rainy times:
That was the only picture taken today. There was talk of flash flood warnings in Worcester. They didn’t come to fruition but it seemed a good idea to get going and get in to the hotel. And with the overcast skies, the light wasn’t cooperating.
The second wave of rain was heavier in the first, making it difficult to know if the standing water on the streets was hiding a wheel-eating pothole. I avoided most of them but took a couple of hits, including a particularly bad stretch of pavement in Lowell (I think). Right before that stretch, the water on the road was deep enough that if I pedaled, my shoes went underwater!
The rain went away eventually and the rest of the ride went without a hitch. No falls were reported and only three flats. We did need to wash our bikes to remove the grit and re-lube our chains.
My crank arm bolt came loose near the end. I tightened it twice before arriving and the Mike gave it a hard turn during our post-ride mechanics time. We’ll keep an eye on it.