Here in Napa, CA it's not often that we get any rain in June. And if we do, it is typically non-measurable. So our weekend storm was very atypical. The forecast was for 0.1 to 0.25 inches in the central Bay region, which includes us, all in the morning hours. Most of the storms we had this winter were a bust; by that I mean that we received nowhere near the amount of rain forecast each storm. We had a couple where we were supposed to get a decent amount and we actually got zero rain. It's a very bad trend that has most of California, actually most of the western states, in serious drought trouble.

Jim and I had signed up to do a small organized ride put on by the group Napa Climate NOW! The ride encompassed some new multi-use trails that we had not seen, as well as informational stops along the way regarding energy-wise and healthy buildings, recycling and composting and a new ecology center being developed along the Bay wetlands in American Canyon. 

We were supposed to meet downtown at 0800 for a 0830 roll. I woke up at 0630 to the sound of light to moderate rain. Our rain gauge already showed 0.25 inches. The weather radar showed more coming. I hadn't heard Jim get up and as I fed our critters, I kind of hoped that he woke up, noticed it was raining and decided to bag the ride and go back to sleep. Alas, about 10 minutes later he emerges from the bedroom in full rain gear.

At that point I knew we were going on the ride. We'd consider it a little preview of the sort of weather we might encounter in Oregon. On previous trips where we spent time in Oregon, we had not encountered much rain but it has been an unusually rainy spring in the Pacific Northwest (and an unusually dry winter and spring for most of California.) 

So we rode. With all the stops the ride overall took about 5 hours and it rained for 4 of those hours. Of the roughly 30 people who signed up, only 13 showed up to ride. By the end of the ride, we only had 7. Even with our rain gear, we got a bit wet, but it was 60-65 degrees most of the time and once it stopped raining and we got some sun, it was 70. Everyone who came was really nice and the info stops were great and at the end, there was a lot of food since so many people didn't show up!

We ended up with over 0.5 inches of rain...very welcome given the worsening fire danger! I also found out that my new PoCampo handlebar bag, which was advertised as being waterproof, isn't. Everything inside it was soaked and soggy. It’s too bad since the bag meets my criteria otherwise-just big enough, easily attached and fits tightly against the bar so it doesn’t rock back and forth on bumps, converts to a crossbody bag for off-bike use and, importantly, is a great color. For this trip I think I will still use it with the addition of some plastic sandwich bags inside. 

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