October 17, Springfield, CO
I got on the road early this morning and was peddling before 7 AM. I knew that later in the day the wind was going to pick up a bit and I wanted to get some serious miles in before that happened.
Sunrise south of Lamar
But it was cold and my hands and feet were numb. A little before 8 AM, I was hit by a blast of hot air…this was so abrupt! But the wind soon grew to what must have been 20 or 30 mph in my face. As the day went on, the temperature climbed to 95 F!
After about 20 miles of this, I stopped at a rest stop. A number of people came up to me and said things like, “wow–it must be really hard riding in this wind….I bet you are exhausted…how can you possibly bike in this wind?…” Head winds are as much mental as physical. I was really trying to keep up a good attitude, but these comments were getting me down.
Rest stop
One fellow, walking his dog, approached me and said, “Isn’t it hard riding in this wind?” I replied, “Can’t say that I noticed it. Wind doesn’t really affect you when you are on a bicycle, especially when it is blowing directly in your face at 20-30 mph. Your body acts like an aerodynamic wedge, slipping right past the wind. It’s physics.”
I heard from one motorist that there was a bad fire near Colorado Springs. I realized that this must be the cause of the big streak in the sky:
Smoke on the horizon
After 46 miles, and 8 hours of hard riding, I arrived in the town of Springfield, CO and decided to pack it in, 23 miles short of my goal. I’m going to start cycling at about 5:30 AM tomorrow, which means 90 minutes in the dark. I will let you know how it goes!
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Great response…the wind actually helps me, it’s physics!
Never understand why folks think they have to find something negative to comment on. How about “I’m amazed that you’re doing this incredible thing”?
I am. Amazed.