The weather today, Wednesday, was forecast to be in the mid to high 50s, with a 30% chance of rain. Kay was off to exercise at 8:30 AM, and feeling almost 100%, I joined Van for a bicycle ride; Little did we know what the day had in store. As we began, the wind was in our faces a bit as we rode east and picked up considerably when we turned north, onto South 10th Street; we stopped along the way to rid ourselves of a jacket having built up body heat along the way—not to worry about the wind as it would be at our backs on the return route. We rode the short distance east, turning north on South 2nd Street, shortly becoming N Col Rowe Boulevard where we stopped at a park at approximately 19 miles for a rest break. We then continued north on a very nice portion of the McAllen bike trail I had not been on. It followed N Col Rowe Boulevard past a number of very affluent neighborhoods and shops. At the northern terminus of the trail, we turned west, only to find the wind changing direction—again onto our faces—and a light mist falling The mist became heavier, and our “sun” glasses became so wet we could hardly see. Near Edinburg, we worked our way further west along E 4 Mile Road N, passing by a large grapefruit orchard where workers were readying the fields for picking, and where we passed several large estates. Eventually, we turned south onto N Conway Avenue stopping at Subway, our mile 35, for rest, lunch, and drying out. Kay phoned just as I was sitting down, advising that she had shrimp creole on the table ready to eat and offered to come get us; I had no way of knowing! With a “rain” check in hand, Van and I ate our sandwiches, and began the final leg of the trip back to the RV resort, rain and all. The ride through Mission was uneventful, and we were able to hug the shoulder most of the way. South of US Highway 83, we turned into the Mission Nature Park for what proved to be a muddy, slick, and slow ride as mud caked on our tires, and filled every crevice on the bikes. With no fenders, I had a streak of mud up my entire back. We completed the 42-mile journey in the light rain back at the RV resort, where we both washed the mud off our bicycles, hopefully no worse for wear. I jumped into the hot shower, and afterward, began washing shoes, rain jacket, bike shorts, and dying out everything when Kay came in from doing laundry and shopping. We chilled the rest of the afternoon, attended the margarita party at the Activities Center, visited with neighbors, and successfully stayed warm the rest of the evening. It was a pretty awesome day despite the rain and generally bad weather—a 42-mile bike ride!
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