A Blustery Day

The day started off much warmer than two days before, when I felt like the ice man by the time I got to work. Temps were in the upper 50's to low 60's. To top it off, the contractors building a car wash near my work finally got around to repairing the sidewalk they tore up to allow construction equipment access from the state route. I've been riding against traffic for about 100 yards along a somewhat perilous strip of that route - in the dark - and it's been rather anxiety provoking. The other side of the route is broken up somewhat due to water seeping onto/under the road - from what source I don't know. So, I choose to ride the sidewalks along that stretch - but couldn't do so much of the winter due to the missing sidewalk. I'm relieved it's finally in place and pedestrians as well as bicyclists can travel safely and without need to walk/ride through mud.

The blustery part: We once again had very strong southerly winds this afternoon - 25 mph average with stronger gusts. I was lucky enough to miss out on the thunderstorms from earlier in the day. After my last battle against the wind, I decided to simply go slow and steady and not exhaust myself trying to maintain any kind of speed. It was a much nicer ride home and I was able to enjoy the sensation of the wind this time around.

This evening, we rode over to our local ice cream shop and enjoyed some delicious cones. We decided to simply park out bikes and trailer in one car's space. Amusingly, we got lots of stares. Not amusingly, it amazed me how many people left their cars running while waiting for family members to pick up their orders. So many youth are still pouring tons of cash into tricked-out cars. Then again, my nehru-style "bike jacket" may have drawn a bit of attention, too... We bought this a few weeks ago at a boutique having a great sale. It's reversable, with the other side black with white bikes. Of course, I'm not going to wear something black while riding about, so the white side gets preferential treatment.

Total riding today: about 7 miles. 5 on the X with my typical workbag full of clothing and 2 toting my 50 lb son.