What a gorgeous day to ride the east valley! Clouds in the sky all day and even some of wet stuff they call rain! Most of the time I felt that unusual wetness it was like a heavy fog but while eating lunch in Fountain Hills there was an actual downpour of "rain." Started at 8am, although when we do the actual ride it will be a 6am start. I delayed the start a bit to miss some of higher chances of rain. No sightings of critters or unusual birds, that was a bit of a disappointment. The drive to Chandler saw some moisture/rain on the windshield and I was beginning to doubt if 8am was late enough. THen on arriving at Chandler I could see some blue sky between clouds. A couple miles into the ride and the misting/heavy fog-like rain started for about 2 miles. That stopped then it repeated again on Riggs rd and stopped. I started thinking that no more rain today since the forcast said it would be ending in a couple hours. Traffic was a bit heavier since it was a Friday. Along Riggs there was 1 spot of construction but that should be all done for ride day in 2 weeks from now. On Riggs at mile 15.4 I removed the vest, blue arm warmers and light gloves I had worn from the start. The sun was peeking out a bit and it was getting a tad warm. Then heading north on Ellsworth at mile 26 there were cones in the shoulder. I believe there was an event at the sports complex, so again this should not be a factor on ride day. I did take pics of the clouds! So unusual. I did NOT have to stop at Usery Pass park for water. Just kept going at a nice even pace. On the descent, near the top I did see the fountain going at Fountain Hills, but since it had started to sputter again, I opted to keep going instead of stopping for a photo. It sputtered all the way down to Bush Hwy. I had thought about putting my vest back on but opted not to. Thankfully traffic was not too heavy for the ride up to the Beeline! Then descent down the Beeline was fast as usual. I noticed it was the top of the hour again and I had hoped I could get far enough to see the fountain of Fountain Hills but I did not. As passing the Ft McDowell Rodeo grounds at mile 61.2 they had the AZ Spartan Weekend going on. A bunch of tents. I planned to stop at the Fountain Hills control for lunch. Upon getting close to the control, around mile 67, there was sidewalk/curb work going on the the road condensed to 1 lane. I suspect this might still be happening in 2 weeks. While at the Burger King it started to rain and then pour. So I took my time eating my whopper with cheese, fries, orange drink, and cheesy tots! I was full! So kept waiting for rain to stop and dry out a bit and for all that food to settle. After 50 minutes, off I went. Turns out I was to the top of Fountain Hills climb before I knew it and down the sidewalk. The traffic was heavier along via Linda. Then finally to the Scottsdale Green Belt and all the sidewalk. Not too busy and not too many people. ASU was really busy. There is construction at the mile 115.5, so rode across the intersection and then turned south only McAlllister. The rest of the ride was fun as darkness was settling in. Another item of note is how rough and holey the road surface on McClintock for about 3 miles, is until get to Chandler city limits. It would be great if we could ride a different road in this area. Maybe follow what #0523 Desert Loop 125k perm and follow Rural down to Ray > Desert Breeze > McClintock? Other than all the turns and sidewalk of the green belt, and the rough road of McClintock, the rest of the route is great.