Glub.

As most of you will recall, yesterday was the Harbor to the Bay charity ride that I've been training for all summer.

It was also, unfortunately, the day that Hurricane Ivan's remnants decided to show up in New England.

So initially, on Friday the decision was made to shorten the ride to 68 miles, start later in the day, and simply ride from Bourne to Provincetown in the hopes of avoiding the extreme weather. I headed into Boston yesterday morning, bike in tow, hoping things would be able to proceed.

The weather, alas, remained uncooperative and the ride was cancelled entirely. Given people's plans, though, we wound up all heading en masse to P-town anyways in the rain. I sent my bike out there by truck (so it did make the trip in the end), and drove myself and three other guys out there as well. We made good time despite the weather and arrived around 12:15 - had a nice lunch at Bubala's (as thanks for driving, none of my carmates would allow me to pay for anything - a nice gesture), and we all went our separate ways until meeting time at the Boatslip at 5. As I left the restaurant, I saw the truck arriving up Commercial Street, so I trudged through the rain to the Boatslip and helped unload all the stuff and put the bikes away at the pool bar (it was pretty obvious no drinks would be ordered at poolside that day).

After that, I wandered around downtown and took a stroll through the little mall there (snapping a few cellphone pictures),

then I headed down towards the Lobster Pot and took this pic from just out front.

As you can see, it was pretty deserted most of the day. On my way back to the Boatslip, I went out behind Bubala's and took this photo of the harbor:

And then went back for the party. The party and check presentation was a bookend to the popular Tea Dance, a must-attend among those in the GL scene - it's a party from 4 to 7 every night that opens up the night's revelries in town. Provincetown is, as you all know, the GL capital of the Northeast, but it's a perfectly friendly place for straights like me, too - we're just in the minority here. The Hat Sisters were there, with bicycle pumps adorning their festive chapeaux for the occasion, and a good, if soggy time, was had by all.

Anyhow, I had a wonderful time that evening, and grabbed a quick dinner from the buffet laid out for the participants. It was a very nice crowd of people, and though we were disappointed by the weather, the decision to cancel was a wise and safe one to make. Sometime in the next few weeks I will embark on a "makeup ride" with a friend or two of the same distance this would have been just to pay the Karmic Tax, and update this adventure.

I left around 8:30 or so, car re-loaded in my van, for the drive home. The rain had departed a couple of hours earlier, and as I raced home (hardly any traffic the whole way), I may have seen a couple of stars peek out.

Or maybe they were aircraft. But regardless, I made it home about 10:45ish, and washed my soggy clothes before passing out. Jane let me sleep until almost 9, and life resumes.