When the Gales of November Come Early

The weather around here continues to be crappy. It seems that we had October weather in September and we're now having November weather in October. We've already had numerous overnight temperatures that dropped below freezing, two days of snow flurries and 15 of the 16 days have had below normal temperatures. I just can't wait to see what November brings.

I still managed to get in 241 miles of riding last week; 10-42-47-37-50-30-25. The most difficult day by far, was Tuesday. Barry and I had decided to do an early morning run on the Bugline Trail. Since our meeting spot was within a mile of where my accountant has an office and since I needed to stop by the accountant to see if I could afford that new Powertap I made the bold decision to ride my cyclo-cross bike from home to the trailhead, ride the trail with Barry, then to the accountant's office, then home. Hey, if reducing fossil fuel emissions by riding a bike instead of driving a car can help stop global warming, I'm in! Of course, that decision was made Monday night while I was nice and warm, snuggled in on the couch with my lovely bride.

Tuesday dawned cold (26 degrees) and windy (30 mph, gusting to 38), putting the wind chill factor or "feels like" temperature at 14. 14! But I had made a commitment so off I went, headlong, straight into the southwest gale. I was cold within minutes even though I was wearing; thick wool socks, shoes with toe covers and neoprene booties, bib shorts, windproof, full length tights, Defeet undershirt, heavy Patagonia thermal shirt, the heaviest windproof cycling jacket that I own, skull cap, balaclava, helmet with cover (a true fashion statement) and Pearl Izumi Lobster mittens. It's difficult just to get on and stay upright on a bicycle with all of this stuff on; yet I was still cold. All you can do is get as low as you can and keep the pedals turning. 10 miles in I had lost feeling in my fingers, toes and nose, and my eyelids were covered in a light crust of ice. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of a tailwind on the way home. At one point I needed to pee. Frostbitten fingers and toes are one thing but a frostbitten Mr. Happy? I held it.

I had finally warmed up a bit 13 miles later when I met Barry at the trailhead. The sun was up and over the clouds that hover over Lake Michigan during the winter months and it had warmed to about 30. But the wind was still howling. Riding behind Barry on the open stretches and getting some protection from the trees in other sections the trail ride wasn't too bad. The cold did force us to stop in at the coffee-shop at the Merton end of the trail for a spot of coffee to warm the bones. We stopped just long enough for our muscles to lock up so even though we had a tailwind on the return leg it still took a few miles to get the legs loosened up again.

Back at the trailhead Barry and I went our separate ways as I headed to the accountant's office for bad news. Hearing that the Powertap purchase would have to wait wasn't the bad news; that the wind had now swung from the southwest to the northwest was. Instead of a rapid cruise home I was now faced with a 30 mph frigid broadside. Instead of coasting, my now completely trashed legs had to grind away as I leaned left into the wind. During some stretches I was leaning at what felt like a 45 degree angle just to keep upright in the wind. Had the wind let up or stopped, even momentarily, I would have flopped onto the road. It was so bad during some stretches that through ice encrusted eyes I could see automobile passengers pointing at me and shaking their heads. Dumbfounded that someone was actually out in this crap.

I finally made it home 47 miles and almost 4 hours since pulling out of the garage. I was completely and utterly wasted. For two days walking on a level surface was difficult. Going up or down stairs was out of the question. I am considering a move to a single-level home. My head was pounding and my shoulders and lower back screamed in agony. Riding 100 miles in the summer is much easier than half that distance in this winter crap. And it's only going to get worse. Yikes!