Bicycle Blues

I haven't biked to work since mid-December. I'm really starting to miss it. Sure, it's cold outside, but that alone isn't enough to stop me. What stops me is the large piles of snow ice (snice?) that have gathered into the bike lanes or bike lane areas of every road between my apartment and my workplace.

I do see other people riding bikes, and I've thought about giving it a try, but I just don't feel secure in the ability of my bike to resist slipping and sliding on the ice. I have no desire to crash. And on some of these roads, there's hardly clear pavement enough for a single car, let alone two cars and a bike.

And so I wait for the snice to melt and the roads to clear and the temperatures to climb.

I wait for spring and the return of biking to work (except when it rains, because the roads get so slick and okay the truth is I don't like getting wet before work).

And I wait for the return of hiking season. It comes early this year, because I'll be attempting a section of the Idaho Centennial Trail that is desert and I've decided that late April is the best time for that. I've read too many horror stories about June attempts from the Nevada border. I'd rather be a little cold and be able to warm up from hiking than be so hot that I literally can't carry enough water to stay hydrated.

Still, it's good to have time to recover and rebuild strength. To store up the longing and desire for the wilderness adventures that await so that when the hardships and privations come they don't matter as much. They'll be what I wanted. What I waited for all winter long.

Headwind Both Ways!

Is it that when I ride my bike into a headwind, it feels harder than riding into a corresponding tailwind feels easier? I often feel that way. The wind was quite blustery yesterday, trying to blow me backward as I rode into it and over when I rode crosswise.

Really, the crosswind is the worst - to a point. A lower rate of speed on the crosswind might blow me and my bike over, while it takes an extreme and unlikely gust in my face to stop my forward motion enough to topple me.

I rode to work in the morning, huffing and puffing as the wind tore tears from my eyes. There would be moments when the wind took a break and I would almost catch my breath before it whipped up again, finding every place where my skin was not covered by clothing and sliding up the legs of my pants.

Midday, I made the sojourn to the Rec Center, again on my bike, again blown about, despite riding in the opposite direction. Pushing through the wind, I did make it there and did a nice little run on the track. But on the way back, I had to change my gears, downshifting until I could push through while staying upright.

And as I rode home at the end of the day, it seemed that the wind was blowing me back to work again. How could it be blowing me away from work and away from home? Did the wind change direction from morning to late afternoon? Or was I gaining a story to tell when I become a crankypants old woman?

"In my day, we rode bicycles to work- into a headwind- both ways!"