Good Golly, Miss Molly. That was some ride to work!
Boy, you wouldn’t believe the grief I’ve been getting all day about riding my bike to work this morning. Come on…what do you think I am? A wienie? (Maybe you better not answer that…..)
I opted to drive yesterday because the temperatures were projected to be in the mid-30′s all day with precipitation expected all day long. In hindsight, had I ridden my bike, I would have ridden both to work and home in nothing more than drizzle, but it would have probably been enough to soak through my gloves in the process.
Today was an entirely different story. I bucked up my bravado and decided I was going to do it! After all, the moisture was supposed to stop and the morning temperature was projected to be around 20 degrees, so even though I consider that to be about the lower temperature limit for my clothing options, I decided I would be fine.
Somewhere in the wee hours of this morning, I awoke to the sound of wind howling around the eaves of the house. That was still going on as I was lifting weights at home this morning, and when I looked out the window, I could see snow blowing horizontally across the street light out front. Yuck! Looking at the weather conditions from my phone, it confirmed that it was 18 degrees outside, with light snow, and sustained winds of 30 mph, gusting to who knows what!
I bundled up in three layers of warmness, pulled on two pairs of booties and my ski mittens and headed off into the cold and wind, not quite sure what I was getting myself into. It didn’t take long to figure that out. Sure, it was cold, but I was dressed for that. What was not so fun was that stinking wind. As I crested the hill out of the river valley, I caught the full brunt of that wicked wind from the west, and it nearly stopped me in my tracks! I’m not kidding, the best I could muster for a hundred yards or so was 5 mph. My entire trip to work was either into a full-on head wind or a blustery cross wind that threatened to sweep me into the ditch. Each northerly leg of my commute was one where I literally had to keep the bike leaning to the left to ride a straight line!
I took about 10 minutes longer than usual this morning, but I made it to work just fine. Actually, it was kind of fun to ride in that blowing snow. As I tromped into the office, I managed to make quite a stir because I was “crazy enough to ride my bike on a day like today”. One lady asked me why in heaven’s name I rode today, and my reply was simply, “Because I could!”.
God bless…
TW
Tags: Bike Commute, cold weather, Cycling, Fitness, Wind
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December 9, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Maybe that was some of your winter gear that just blew by my window here in Western North Carolina! We’ve got your wind but not the cold temps and snow. We’re currently registering 60 mph gusts with major wind damage all around the county. It is sunny and actually very warm at 60 degrees or so. I didn’t venture out today on 2 wheels.
Don’t you enjoy having the office staff question your sanity?
I liked your response…
- Zeke
December 10, 2009 at 12:40 pm
It was a great adventure yesterday! I agree the wind was more of a challenge than the temps. I haven’t had to fight that hard for a long time.