I was looking for every excuse in the book to not ride yesterday after work. It was one of those bizarre days where I spent all day wanting to ride and then when 5:00 arrived, I no longer wanted to.
As I drove home, I grinned at the darkening sky. As I was pulling into my complex parking lot, I started to laugh as the first rain drops fell on my windshield. I had my excuse!
About an hour later, the urge to ride came back and I started feeling stupid for not wanting to do this thing that I love so much. I stepped outside to see what the world was doing. It was almost like stepping into another world.
The wind that had been howling all day was gone. There wasn’t even a whisper of wind left. The few drops of water that had hit my windshield were apparently some of the only drops to fall. There were clouds all around and the sky was dark, but overhead was a perfect canopy of blue.
I quickly changed clothes and jumped on the bike. As I headed down the road, I marveled at how calm it was. In the distance, on all sides, the skies were dark and ominous. Lighting was flashing fast and furious, but it was far enough away that I wasn’t getting even the fading reports of thunder. I was still very much aware that I was effectively riding around on a glorified lightning rod and storms can move in rather quickly here, but I knew I was safe for the time being.
I continued to ride. The wind picked up a couple of times, but never much above 10 mph and the breeze was refreshingly cool with the faintest whiff of a spring rain entering my sense of smell. With every change of direction, I saw another bank of thunderheads putting on its own light show, but the sky overhead remained crystalline blue.
Every once in a while, I let my concentration focus on my foot. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t causing any further damage, but the pain was blessedly absent. I smiled and laughed outloud frequently and simply enjoyed the peace of being out on the bike.
All too soon, the sun dipped behind the clouds as the day continued to fade. Although on a clear day I would have had at least another hour of light, on this night darkness was coming early. I turned for home.
I put my gear back in its appointed place and took a quick shower. By the time I was out, it was full dark outside. I stepped out to smell the air and the lightshow was in full blossom. The lightning strikes were coming so fast and frequently that I could have read by the light. I pulled out a chair and sat down to enjoy the show. It was still off in the distance and only rarely did the thunder reach my ears. Only rarely did the wind even blow, but when it did it was filled with the scent of rainfall.
This morning, I feel energized. The foot has the ever-present throbbing happening, but no worse than normal and considerably better than most days. For the first time in weeks, I am walking without a limp and the memory of last night’s nearly perfect ride keeps bringing a smile to my face.
As of this moment, the conditions outside are perfect for riding. The skies are clear, the temperature is a comfortable 72, and the winds are at a gentle 10 to 15 mph. I hope it all holds until 5, but the forecast for this evening are for conditions much less enjoyable than last night. They are saying we could have winds up to 65 mph this afternoon into the evening.
I don’t mind riding in the wind, but that might be a bit too extreme. Hopefully those conditions won’t last. If nothing else, I hope for calm conditions this weekend. The trails, which I normally ride on weekends, are probably still muddy from the 10 inches of rain we got last week so I am hoping to get in a couple of long rides on the road bike to start testing my current fitness level and judge whatever improvement I might have made.
My riding buddy is going on a 65-mile road ride tomorrow and has invited me to join. The more I think about it, the more tempted I am to take him up on it.
