Wind is an asshole. I have no patience left for it. It has all of it been used up, gone, finished. It is the only force that I’m aware of (with the possible exception of gravity) that is more stubborn and less willing to listen to reason than I myself am. It blows me around on my bike, it embezzles speed from my Magnificent Stroke. No matter how emphatically I lose my temper with it, no matter the unprintable curses and insults I hurl in its direction, it just keeps on blowing like a big stupid blowing thing.
The weather systems that move in and out of the Puget Sound Convergence Zone are accompanied by a gale and, and as every Cyclist knows, gales blow exclusively against the direction of travel. With the changing seasons come the frequent storm systems and the unreliability of the meteorologists is amplified by the complexity of the weather patterns. Taking Bike Number One is a gamble during any of these times, but sometimes living dangerously feels better than it is sensible. Every now and then, taking #1 when you really shouldn’t can offer a bit of much-needed redemption.
Fall winds steel us for the arrival of colder, darker days. Winter around here comes with less wind, but with annoyances of its own. Our friends in more harsh climates than mine will agree: we have had a dark Winter here in the Northern Hemisphere. Seattle is a mild place to live, but even here the damp, cold, short days have taken their toll. The sun is down when I arrive at work, and it is down when I leave for home. With vitamin D in short supply, our moods sour, the chickens stop laying their eggs (there is no creature more entitled than a clucking chicken who refuses to lay an egg), and alcohol, food, and sloth start looking like viable plans of remediation.
But as Winter makes its slow exit, the winds begin to blow once again and Spring starts to dot hints that she is about to make her entrance. The redbud trees are in blossom, and the Earth is letting loose the green stalks of tulips and crocuses. The work we did over the winter was supposed to make us feel strong and fast; instead, trees bow to our arrival as the wind pushes against our face and robs us of the free flight that a Cyclist in form works so hard to achieve.
Nevertheless, this weekend I rode with bare legs, the strong headwind filling my senses with the fresh smell of damp, life-giving earth and budding blossoms. Rebirth is infectious and like the trees and plants around me, so too have I been reborn.
Wind might well be an asshole, but when it signals warmer, brighter days it somehow seems more tolerable. Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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Okay - just about to press the button on this - opinions please on the Trek Crockett 5 Disc - the next n+1 fulfillment or poor idea leading to disappointment?
@the Engine
Looks like a decent machine but not ridden one. Hope you're getting at a discount now the CX season is over. What are 'vanishing mudguard mounts' though?
@The Oracle
Im in Wausau now. shit lots of us in Wisconsin.
@frank I raced 24 mm Vittoria Pave's last year and wished I had wider. This year was 25mm and was fine. Some folks have wider. One cat I caught up with after race ran 30mm. Some folks on canti cross bikes. Not a tremendous amt of pricey carbon aero wheels. Did see one set of enve's... few sets of zipps. I raced HED's Jet+. And had Ardennes+ in the wheel truck. I really dig the 25mm rim bed on these wheels. There is something very cool about 25mm tires at 90 psi rolling at 22 mph and hitting just the right size little stone at just the right angle and it shooting off like a little rocket in to a frame. Quite a racket going on. Stings when hits knuckles. The bike returns with a lot of character.
@cyclebrarian cap and cheese... know it well. And I was on Eastern Shore every summer growing up and spent six years in Baltimore after graduating so down there every w/e... cheers, RC
@teleguy57. We have been through the coldest winter in Wisconsin in 35 years. I haven't thrown a leg over my steed since mid-November. She's been hooked up to the trainer, and I have had about enough of that thing (although I'm damn glad I have it). So (and no offense to Frank and his great works), Sweet Merckx let the Spring winds blow.
@Jamie
You might feel differently if you took a pull every now and again.
Chicago is a windy-ass city, no arguing that point. Chicago being windy, however, does little to influence how windy Seattle is.
@cyclebrarian
Another pic; more awesomeness here.
@RedRanger You picked a hell of a winter to move north.
@the Engine
Skit the discs and get the canti version.
@wilburrox
Perfect conditions for my Arenbergs with 25mm Paris-Roubaix tires, it sounds like, with the Nemesis/Royce set waiting in the truck. I'm seriously stoked on this.