The Crack of Dawn

The temperature was back down into the upper 40s this morning, but something else seemed amiss. It was still much too dark when I stepped out the door at 6 am. After many, many years of stepping out that door at 6 am, the normal level of sunlight for each day of the year is firmly imprinted somewhere in my head, and something wasn't quite right today. I looked up at the sky and saw nothing but a monotone blanket of high grey clouds. Ah, well. At least I it wasn't that Groundhog Day Thing!

As I climbed the levee I noticed a little sunlight coming from behind me, and when I looked back I could see a long narrow strip of clear, sunlight-lit sky stretching the entire length of the east horizon. Oh, I thought, that must be the "crack of dawn" I've heard about. I don't think too clearly that time of the morning.

The group was not unexpectedly small today, but the seven or eight of us would be sufficient for the planned long ride out to Ormond and back. As we prepared to clip in, Luke rode up, amid comments like "what, did you stay up all night or something?" Luke hasn't been making the early morning starts too much lately, but he commented that he'd worked out twice yesterday, so perhaps he's on the program again. As for myself, my legs felt just terrible this morning. Part of that must have been due to the chilly weather. The rest I suppose I could attribute to the wine I had the night before at a farewell party for one of the guys, actually the other guy, in our office. Whatever the reason, I felt like I was struggling a bit all morning as we pushed our way through a relentless crosswind with only rare and brief sections of tailwind. Such is riding in the winter, of course, and one had best get accustomed to it early so as to avoid the dreaded "binge training" program. That's where you sleep late and skip training for days and days because it's cold or wet or whatever, and then your guilt gets the better of you and you dive headlong into a week of over-the-top training rides in all kinds of weather, only to find yourself completely wiped out by the next Monday and all too ready to take another few days off. I know one rider in Mobile who exhibits all the symptoms of binge training. Of course, he still beats me on a regular basis, but that's beside the point. Or is it? I dunno. I'm confused, so I'm going to go back to work now. The blog break is over.