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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@Nate
Love it!
@Nate
you dont need to remind me...
@frank
While I agree, you care to extrapolate on that?
@RedRanger
BTW, in the UK the Crocket 5 only comes in disc brakes. toy get canti, you need to spend an extra 350 pounds and get stuck with SRAM.
That race in MS looks sweet. Very cool.
I got outside yesterday and rode for the first time (other than rollers) since fall. I was slow and my legs had little power but I was elated in just being outside and riding my bike. I reveled in the smells, warm breeze, and sunshine. In many ways, the best ride of the year.
@RedRanger
Everyone I know who has gone disc has gone back to Canti. Especially in a sport with as much crashing and throwing about of the bike as CX has, those discs get bent way too easily and there is no straightening them back, so you wind up with rub and other annoying side effects.
Nothing wrong with SRAM, you just have to use the right cables and learn how to adjust it. I like it only a little less than Record.
Got out today for the first after work weekday ride of the year, thank you DST. Too cool for bare legs, but it felt great. Brought along the Stella mounted on the helmet in addition to the blinkies, just in case, and good thing I did. Stopped to help a woman who flatted. She had a tube and I got to try out my new Lezyne pump, which worked great. Turns out her and her hubby had seen me couple of weeks earlier and stopped to ask if I was ok, I was contemplating whether to trudge thru the snow to get into the woods for a nature break. I'll take New England most days.
@frank
Plus discs can just be a pain in the fucking ass that you just don't need unless you're on a mountain bike riding on actual mountains. I know it's possible to go for a long time with them working well, but then for reasons only they're aware of they get spongy and loud and hopelessly ineffective, and you have to bleed the sons of bitches and IMO that's a pain in the ass. I've been riding my mtb with suck-ass rear braking for the last two months just because I have better things to do with my time. Like ride my road bike. Or sit upside down underwater in my kayak. Or make my VMH nice dinners. Just about any damn thing.
One question, though, from someone who's lived a sheltered life: why canti's and not v-brakes like the TRPs that Marko has on his sick new gravel rig?
@Nate
Pretty fucking awesome set of images... could click thru these all night.
@the Engine I just purchased the Trek Crossrip LTD for the gravel grinders around here. Most all them have 30-40% pave, so, I got this as an all around bike to handle both.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/road/cyclocross/crossrip/crossrip_limited/#/us/en/model/features?url=us/en/bikes/road/cyclocross/crossrip/crossrip_limited