I’m smelling the barn door, as the saying goes. My Love to Ride mileage goal for 2022 is 5000 miles by December 30. Today I rolled up to 3500 miles; so barring a major catastrophe, I should be able to finish quite easily!

You know how you begin to feel excited when you see that you’re nearing a goal? You get that “downhill all the way” feeling; and the urge to complete your project as quickly as possible. That’s how I feel now. But I know I can’t manage 1500 miles in a few weeks; and I have four months to do it. Plus a few days!

The weather this week hasn’t helped. Yesterday morning I rode in a heavy downpour. The threat of more rain prompted me to keep it short today; and the clouds meant I couldn’t see the full moon!

So much rain means I have to ride through big pools of water. Road conditions are apt to be wet and muddy. The hybrid has fenders; so I’ve used the hybrid for the last two morning rides. I sure miss riding the road bike!

Maddening though all this rain is, we can breathe a sigh of relief that the tropics continue to be quiet. It’s a stark contrast to last year, when hurricanes cropped up one after another. A hurricane might mean major disruption to my cycling; and possibly derail my mileage goal! Some poor folks are still reeling from the effect of last year’s storms; so we don’t need any more of them!

I’m thinking about this weekend’s riding; smelling the barn door again! It looks like rain chances Saturday are mostly for afternoon; but for Sunday it’s a flip of the coin.

Saturday, of course, I want to head for the salvage store; and I want to do a long ride Sunday. Rain chances that day are 50-50; so who knows which way it will go. If it does rain, I just hope I’ll be back at the barn when it starts.