wicked west wind

something wicked this way comes. it's the west wind.

when i left the house this morning it was 52 degrees. the wind out of the west was a bit of a nuisance, pushing back every time i pushed forward. i was only able to eek out speeds of 13-15mph most of the way.

about six miles from home i passed that house. i call it that house because on more than one occasion i have passed it and been greeted on the other side of it's tree line with gale force winds. it happened again today. i nearly got knocked over by the force of what hit me just past that house. i lowered my body as low as it could go, my head down, my hands in the drops. i pedaled harder and i somehow managed to maintain 8-10mph for the next mile and half. the summit of l'alpe d'anville was awful. the western slope offered only a little reprieve from the hurculean effort required to stay upright and keep moving.

then i turned around. to say that the journey home was pure bliss might be a bit of an overstatement, but it was pretty nice. there were a few moments when the wind swirled around to the southeast, but mostly i was pushed along by the best tailwind i've had in a long time. i was able to recover after my hard effort. i cruised along at 18-20mph with much less effort than it had taken to go 10mph earlier.

i got back to town earlier than expected, so i rode out to eden road east of town and turned around to come back. the wicked wind did not disappoint. it was in my face again. i fought to maintain 12mph, barely hanging on. i was so glad when i got to pine street and turned south. i rolled home with the wind off my right shoulder at my back. i had fought against and overcome the wicked west wind.

i walked inside and checked the thermometer again. 42! in 1:03'49" the temperature had dropped 10 degrees. the cold front has arrived. (17.61 miles @ 16.5mph)