The Wind on West Hill

[thisnewday]

The wind up on West Hill, where I live and do my fitness rides, is FIERCE.

This morning, late, I had decided that I would continue my outdoor rides until there was salt on the shoulders of the road. Don't wanna eff up the drive chain, bearings, derailleurs, ya know.

And I can dress for the cold, have the gear, the know-how, and the experience to do that. From, you know, my years as a bicycle commuter.

But what I can't dress for is that wind. I have the endurance to ride against it--I've regained that with my daily 10+ mile rides.

But the sudden gusts, which almost blew me off the bike near the end of my first circuit today, are something that I can't handle. Or don't want to handle, if I consider the likely aftermath of a bad fall.

So, it appears that today's 3.15 mile circuit, in the gusting, 37-degree winds, will in fact be my last of this season.

And so, when I brought the bike into the house this time, I turned it so that it could easily be backed into the trainer, once the rear skewer is replaced with the one that's compatible with the trainer mount.

Hope everyone has a good afternoon...

LPK
Dreamwidth
11.17.2022

Comments

[halfmoon_mollie1]

Yep, I decided the other day that my outdoor walking in the pre-dawn has come to an end. You have wind, I worry about ice. Poop on winter.

[thisnewday]

Yeah, I totally feel the same. But I can't say that to my daughter because she'd use it to re-open her case for having me move down to JAX, which I don't wanna do.

Maybe it's like my old buddy Gerald at Palm Center Toyota said to me as I was loading my roll-cab and tools into the van for the trip back north from Houston, I'm "just a frustrated snowbird," lol.

Stay safe on your walks, Lynn, 'cause I know you still do them...

[halfmoon_mollie1]

when I can. It's tough finding comparable pleasant indoor stuff.

[thisnewday]

Well, we both know that nothing is comparable to the rides and walks that we do outdoors. It just isn't.

Before I had the bike, I was doing what you're doing. But I was lucky to be living just a few blocks from the Henninger HS outdoor track.

I think I wrote an entry here, once, about how I'd do 3-4 miles daily on the resilient surface of the track and how much easier it was on my ankles, knees, and hips.

And how one winter it was just me and a woman I'd only seen a couple of times maintaining a single path through the snow that gradually covered the whole landscape.

I also walked at the casino, when we were there overnight, or at one of the malls--back when they were still open and the weather was just too bad outside.

So, yeah, I had options then that I don't have now and which I understand that you don't have either and I feel badly about that for both of us.

So, I write this and sigh and we both wait for that distant and dearly hoped-for coming of Spring...