Wind and Rain

OK now, before I get started griping about the miserable riding weather we've had around here lately, I must direct your attention to Jill's "Up in Alaska" blog today because the photos are pretty spectacular. Next time you start to wimp out on a training ride because it's a little cold and windy, perhaps this will help put things in perspective and provide a little extra inspiration.

So Friday morning the wind was blowing even more strongly than it had been on Thursday, but since the forecast was calling, in no uncertain terms, for rain later in the day, I rummaged around searching for a couple of recently laundered and subsequently misplaced items of cool-weather riding clothing and stumbled out the door with only five minutes to make it to the levee. (How's that for a run-on sentence?) I really wasn't expecting to see anyone at the meeting spot since I arrived four or five minutes late, so I just pushed on up the river hoping to get in an hour or so of riding before work.

I was still a couple of miles from Williams Blvd. when I saw John and Taylor already coming back, so naturally I turned around. They'd turned back early because of the wind (and cold). I'd been riding along with more tailwind than headwind, so I knew the ride back would be pretty hard, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share the pain with two other people. We weren't trying to push the pace or anything, but just maintaining 20 mph required a pretty good effort every time my turn came up on the front, and for the last few miles when we were heading directly into the wind, we were lucky to hold 19. At least I made it home, gave the cat a shot of insulin, and made it to work before things got too nasty.

The rain started later that morning and has continued off-and-on since then. Saturday morning was a wash-out, and then things just kind of went downhill. By mid-afternoon is was raining steadily. I think they said that the airport has recorded eleven inches of rain so far this month. Streets all over the city were flooding all over the city around 5 pm. My main accomplishment for the day was finding 0.3 ml, U-100, 31 gauge syringes online.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to be able to do the northshore ride, assuming the weather cooperates and I can convince The Wife to stab The Cat with a syringe that I've pre-loaded with 2 units of "Vetsulin." I definitely need a long ride, if only for psychiatric reasons.