Headwinds Suck...
Okay...official day one of Project Discovery was yesterday. I had a day off. Unfortunately it was raining...fortunately I love cycling in the rain. Actually, I dread riding in the rain while I'm in my regular clothes, all warm and toasty sipping my cup of joe...it takes an extraordinary effort to get me to pull on my lycra and head out. But once I'm out there, I love it...no really!
There is something about riding my bike in the rain. Some of my all-time favorite rides occured in while the drops were falling. I remember ascending Mount Tamalpais in a driving downpour. I only saw one other person (another psycho mountain biker) on the mountain all day long. There was something cleansing in the grey soggy day.Now, I prefer mountain biking in the rain, however as I don't know the Southbay area to well, it's road biking for me. Unfortunately, if you are a road cyclist, you know that you travel at a much faster pace than your mountain breathren. Speed + Rain = Cold. I could have had on all the moisture-wicking-techno-wear on that I wanted, it was still cold!
But out I went. Shawn has stated that I need to say, "I am committed to 145 pounds by Superbowl Sunday!" Nope, it's, "I would like to be" for me. It's a cycling thing. You will never hear any of the Director Sportif's in le Tour commit to anything, so if it's good enough for le Tour...*giggles*
But I am committed to losing weight. I hate seeing my dad staring back at me in the mirror. Hey, I love my father, but I want to be that old geezer who powers by the peleton on his creaky old bike...er...his gleaming carbon fiber sled I mean. I always grimace when I see one of those senior citizens who blast up the hill, while I struggle on my pedals. Dear Lord, I want to be one of those guys...So off I went out in the rain on Sunday. It was wonderful to hear the "sizzle" of my tires as they slid across the moist pavement. My sunglasses instantly became dotted with droplets of rain. Ahhh...cycling in the rain.
What I love about biking while it's raining is what I see. The beautiful and the curious. There are different laws and rules in the wet. The gathering of fall leaves in the usually ugly gutter, forming a beautiful fall pallet of color. The cab driver underjudging the braking time...sliding midway through the intersection, then grinning at me sheepishly. The clouds embracing the Santa Cruz mountains almost warmly.
It was a wonderful ride...except how come the headwind always comes at the end? I'm drenched and I am done...I'm cooked. I wanted a warm shower. I think Mother Nature wanted to teach me a lesson. How dare I of me to think that I could oppose her will? Although it was a soft headwind, it was enough. Put a fork in me, I was done...
I love riding in the rain...
One last thing. This photo, that had obviously been edited with Photoshop, made me giggle. It has nothing to do with anything, just a random image that I found that made me smile...
posted by LoneCactus @ 6:43 AM
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