It's Raining, It's Pouring

As I type, we are in the midst of yet another Pacific storm front moving through the area. It's 8 days into June and we've had over three inches of rain (not counting the current downpour). We normally get something like 1.25 inches in June. Also of interest is that we have yet to reach an 80 degree day for 2010, which if we don't get it today, will break the record for the latest point in the year. They're expecting 80 degrees on Saturday.

In the past, I've been able to live with the idea that it's Rose Festival time in Portland, and that means grey skies and rain. You'd think that the people who planned this might have lived here for awhile and were used to the weather patterns, but I guess not. However, we've had nearly unrelenting rain since mid-April, and it's starting to harsh my biking buzz (I don't like riding in the rain, primarily for safety reasons). I expected to have gotten in around 15 or so rides in by now and have my distance up to 20+ miles, but I've been out only four times and 14 is the most I've done. I think I got one ride in during May, none so far in June.

This is a bit of a problem, as my biking goal for 2010 is to make the 135 mile Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway ride (as Terry Brooks did recently for the Oregonian, our local paper) in late August. I picked late August as the weather is least likely to get hinkey and it's before the college football season starts (which increases the danger in and around pretty much every city and town we ride through). I will have a good 11 weeks to train, assuming the weather gets good enough for me to be out and building up my endurance (and hill climbing, although there are only a couple of mile-long hills on the route). If it's still raining like this in July, then I may have to push this trip out a year.

I guess I'll have to stay inside and game instead...