Summer is a time for getting fat. Winter is a time for getting fat as well, but in a different way; in Winter we get fat on meals of meat and potatoes covered in sauces made of meat and potatoes. In Summer, on the other hand, our minds get fat: we get nice tans, we tone our muscles, long days see us riding at any hour of the day that suits us. We engorge ourselves on warmth and comfort. Rule #9 is what separates the wheat from the chaff, and we’ve had altogether too little of it. Chaff and wheat are a single, cohesive unit. Not good.
As a Seattleite, I feel I’m entitled to enjoy good weather. We have rain from November to May, and maybe a bit more. Rainy and wet weather is our brand; so we indulge in the bounties that Summer brings us. But entitlement breeds weakness. I would only be entitled to good weather if I somehow paid dues to the Sun and skies themselves for which in return they paid me with sunshine and warmth. I pay no such dues; I am a passenger who is at the mercy of forces I cannot control.
I have the best tan I’ve had an ages – certainly since I’ve lived in Seattle. Tanned guns glistening in the sun motivate a rider in a way that pale guns with goose pimples never can; the way they show off the muscles and veins is something I could stare at for hours.
I’ve been riding mostly in the evenings after work because the long hours of daylight allows for this luxurious schedule. I come home from work, pull on the V-Kit, and spend a few glorious minutes pretending to labor over which bike to ride when in fact I already spent most of the day daydreaming about which bike I would ride. I know full well which bike I’m taking out – I’m just putting on a show for them so they feel included; the difference between a savage and a civilian, after all, has much to do with presentation.
Last Thursday, I knew I was staring down the barrel of an awful day. No chance for an evening ride or even a lunchtime ride – and a disbursement of meeting locations throughout the day meant no chance for commuting, which is the usual silver-bullet in any schedule-constrained cycling-fix. So I turned to the Sunrise Ride – that sacred time when you sacrifice sleep for the sacred gift of exercising during the only window of time that anyone you work with even considers the possibility that you’re awake in the first place.
It was cold when I got up. The first cold morning of the season; a sign of things to come for sure. I walked the dogs and judged what kit I needed to ride. The cold was seeping through my light jacket and into my bones; I reeled at the realization that I was considering arm and knee warmers for the first time in ages. Maybe I can ride after work after all? It will be warm and sunny then. This was the Anti-V speaking, trying to coax me back into the warmth of my bed. I shut it out and set about preparing for the ride.
It wasn’t a Rule #9 ride, not even close. Still, it was chilly in the most invigorating way, I felt my senses in a way I haven’t in many months. The sun cut through the mist and steam of the early morning and cast an eerie blood-orange light on everything it touched. I delighted in the way the sun painted long shadows from the objects around me; I was part of the early morning canvas that I had slept through since June. One of my favorite spots in Seattle, down by Carkeek park, was windstill and picturesque. Puget Sound looked almost like a sheet of glass holding up the Olympic Peninsula and its mountains.
These are the gifts we rediscover each year when we shed the thick comforts of Summer. I can’t say I’m looking forward to colder and wetter times, but I can say I welcome the change and the return to reality.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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A blood orange sky may portend some #9 rides "Red sky at night, riders delight; red sky in the morning, the ride may need a warning" or something like that.
Closest I've been to Seattle is Portland. (my first real experience with a road bike 22 years ago)
I live in the southeast and there are occasions in the middle January, where we can get away with a gilet, arm/knee warmers over a quality base layer. Occasionally. Summers however are long, hot and humid. The monkey gets spanked all over Rule #52.
A couple weeks ago though, I went "home" to Buffalo for a week with my parents. The first day I rolled out for a morning ride, it was rather chilly for my southern ass, so I added arm warmers and gilet to the kit. At the least, it has me looking forward to November here in our southern summer sauna.
Spot on. My two cents:
I've been spoiled by riding in Arizona for my entire roadie experience; one might say I started out soft, although Rule #9 does specifically mention inordinately hot and I started out in Phoenix. But even up in the mountains, during the summer it's rare to see a day below 70 degrees, let's ballpark that to 21 C. To me, too cold to ride means below about -7 C (boy, that sounds a lot colder in C than F).
But here's the rub: it's all a dry heat (or cold) as they say. I've found myself donning the knee and arm warmers more and more during the mornings, because the days are rapidly getting colder and shorter up here. But it's still dry, and once the sun comes up it's nice and warm. With a potential move to Washington State, I may have to learn how to tough out cold AND wet winters. Not sure yet how much complaining I'll do, or whether I'll just get on with the job and enjoy some espresso upon my return home each time. Maybe I'll have to invest in some of those DeFeet woolies and a nice pair of full fingered gloves.
Hello and VLVV, from the other side of that very water.
This summer has been like a gentle poof along the head with a goose-down pillow encased in a pillow case made from 8,000-count Egyptian cotton swung by a dream-enhanced version of my one true love.
It has sucked not. Not at all has it sucked. I do not pretend to understand the laws of karma, but I have a suspicion that I've burned up a lot of good karma this summer. And yet, I'm not bummed out by the cool morning temps and the need to use a flashlight briefly last evening.
Talk to me in a few months.
@frank - good read; conjures up many great and memorable rides. As you know from riding the Northern California Coast it rarely gets too cold or too hot here....unless you ride to the East or South Bay in July and August - @Nate's territory. As I live on the coast, most of my riding starts early in mist enshrouded hills and fog blanketed harbors. My absolute favorite time of day is daybreak when the sun's rays begin to penetrate and clear the mist.
I started as the dark began to lose it's grip yesterday. As we climbed out of Manchester, the dawn revealed nothing but mist which slowly burnt off into a beautifully hot late summer's day. Later the shadows lengthened, the light became richer and a huge full moon rose. I finished under orange street lights, a bit colder than I'd started and wishing for a gillet.
@HMBSteve gorgeous.
I really like riding early in the morning. Unfortunately I also like sleeping in the early morning.
@Chris
You're the man for finishing. Hopefully your family bits did not go numb.
Beautiful story, Frank. Mornings have been chilly along our beach road, too. The fog is gorgeous along there.
Awesome! I was just thinking tonight that I can't even remember what it was like, or when it was cold enough, to require a jacket. I've been in shorts and tees since April. I absolutely have no recollection of what it is like to pull on oversocks and knee warmers. It's coming though.
Great piece, Frank! I love riding early. The dogs wake me up at 5:30 and some days I just head right on out. Even on weekends, I like to ride early and be off the road before even the church nutters are up.
Think I'll be starting a new job in a few weeks. First of all, the Budgetatus is going to increase by a laughable percentage. Secondly, it's just over an hour round-trip. Even when I can't get in a true ride, not bad to be in the saddle for an hour. Better yet, it's mostly on a bike trail, after a short cut-through a quiet neighborhood. Stress free bike commute, a fucking dream come true. I can also take my bike inside. Oh boy, major PROs for this job.