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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@Jamie
Happened to me earlier in the week. I love how the meteorologists around here usually lead with, "One of these three things might happen to the weather today..."
@withoutanyhills
I've probably had my laziest Spring for years - mostly because of the lack of a Keepers Tour to have my dander up about training properly.
But I have a goal of doing well in The Heck of the North with an early carrot of The Hour for Festum Prophetae, along with a handful of other races over the year - not to mention the Cogals planned.
Shit just got real.
@PeakInTwoYears
Is Quilcene where you lot are at? I thought you were both more Port Angeles than Rain Trench. We have good friends who had a cabin there and it was rainy as fuck all year. Then they got a place in Port Townsend and its fucking sunny all the time.
Its like 25km from the old place.
Beautiful part of the country though - the rain just keeps the twats out.
@unversio
Its been colder here than usual - with several heavy frosts throughout the Winter. Seattle loves their concrete roads which means frost heaves are not heaves so much as jumps.
I am not an elegant creature when I am not secured to the ground.
As for the witchcraft, I intervened to ensure that anyone who has no disposition against wind to be dealt a nasty one today. You're welcome.
@frank
Another quote of the year -- just happened.
@anthony
Having 360 days of sun doesn't help when the sun is only out while you're at the office.
That said, we also skipped our usual trip to annoy Gianni and his VMH and as such noticed the Happiness Delta for sure where we didn't have a midwinter dose of Sun and Awesome. The Four Pillars of Awesome need a reunion!
@frank
WTF I thought Dutch cyclists love the wind. Or at least hate it less than the rest of us.
@Brianold55
On the shortest day of the year, the day in Seattle are a full hour shorter than were where I grew up in Minneapolis. For Gianni on Maui, I think the days are a few hours shorter but not really that much. It makes a fucking difference.
@Nate
Being good at it and loving it are two different things.
I should think a lawyer would understand such nuances.
@frank
No, we're between Port Townsend and Sequim--kinda at the east end of the center of the rainshadow. PT kicks it. There's some beautiful rides in the valleys and on the ridges south of PT. We ride over that way from the house a lot. Got a quiver of routes over there.
PT, cute little town. Decent beer. Okay food. Good little farmer's market. Good bookstore. I could live there. You have to own a sailboat, though. That you built yourself. With hand tools. It's the law.
@Optimiste
Note to self: Reconsider commuting with teammate nicknamed "Soul Crusher".
AM ride into the wind: Max heart rate for my age - 175. Actual max heart rate - 179.
PM ride with tailwind: Had to use top gear (53x12) to keep up while drafting. Took pulls to recover.
P.S. Okay, we'll do it again Thursday.