SpringfieldCyclist.com

You know, I suppose if I’d been halfway smart I would have heeded the warnings.  But with a day off work and not a lot to do, it seemed like riding in pretty poor conditions was better than sitting around indoors.  I suppose I could have also been smarter and gotten out first thing, but somehow I got it in my head that the couple of to-do items on my list should take precedent over riding a bike.

So…it was after noon before I shoved off into the wind on my Surly.  I chose it as an acknowledgement that I was probably gonna get wet.  The fenders and means to carry rain gear offset the climbing disadvantage, although the Bar Mitts and trunk bag added to the wind-induced wobble in the cross wind.

With the wind at a pretty steady 20 mph or so from the south, I chose my route to take the brunt of it’s force early on as I headed toward the intersection of Cottonwood and Smyrna Roads.  That plan worked especially well for me, as it felt a little like it was from the south east, which gave me a somewhat easy and fast ride home from my only stop in Rogersville.  Prior to my northerly turn on VV to from U Highway, however, that wind was as cuss-worthy as it gets.  There was not a lot of point in trying to go fast, so I just focused on keeping moving.

The rain did make it’s appearance as I turned south on Cottonwood, so I stopped long enough to throw my rain gear on before continuing on my way.  With the wetness, I had to ride my brakes all the way down the Cottonwood hill, putting a damper on some of my fun.  If I’m gonna err, I would rather do so on the side of caution than slide out on the twisty road down there.

By the time I got to Rogersville, the rain had nearly stopped, then shortly afterward it picked up again with an intensity that finally made me decide I had enjoyed enough fun for the day and that I would cut my route by a few miles and head for home in the most expedient manner.  I think some of that motivation was the couple of claps of thunder during that same downpour.

By the time I made it home, however, the sun was shining again, but the wind was in the process of shifting out of the west.  By the time I had showered, the wind was full-on from the west with the same intensity, so I got lucky in that regard.  Had I been 30 minutes later, I would have been slogging home in just as bad a head-wind as I started in.  I guess in that regard, I could claim victory.

In spite of the poor conditions, I was glad I got out of the house and got some exercise.  For me, that always makes for a much more pleasant day than the alternative.

You can click the map above for the full Strava link.

God bless…

TW

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This entry was posted on February 20, 2013 at 12:17 pm and is filed under bicycle, cold weather cycling, Cycling, Fitness, rain. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: bicycle, Cycling, Fitness, rain

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