Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Brown Season: In One Direction

Escape Route: Sergeant Road bike path.
As you may have read here, I have been battling a cold for the better part of two weeks now. I'm getting better, but I'm still not out of the woods just yet. But that didn't stop me from getting out for a short one on Tuesday. 

We've finally turned the corner in terms of weather here. For the past two weeks it has been a roller coaster in terms of decent days versus really blustery, and even frigid weather. It's been so tough weather-wise that even if I had been well, I probably wouldn't have gotten out very much at all. 

But now things are looking up in both departments- both in terms of my health and in terms of the weather. And I wasn't about to just sit here another day and watch the clouds roll by in a beautiful blue sky without giving the bike a go. So I got dressed in some knickers, a wind vest, and the rest of my cycling garb, but no gloves! (WooHoo!) Then I headed off South straight into the wind.

It may not look like much, but it was very good medicine for my soul.

The only thing I cannot convey here with this image is the strength of the wind at the time.

This was one of those Spring days we get here where the wind is brutal. Really brutal. Like 25mph-30mph brutal. It didn't take long for me to figure out that too much of this headwind was going to end up being a bad thing for a guy coming off a wicked head cold. 

It won't be long and this all will be green.

I turned off sooner than my mind wanted to, but it was the right decision. What is that old saw? "Baby steps"? Yeah, that's it. Take it easy, build up. Going longer and taking the risk that I would end up relapsing, or stressing out the knees, was not worth it. 

Looking at the road that would take me back into town.
Poachers? Or just lazy hunters? I see this every Spring somewhere in the country.

I live in the center, more or less, of the city I live in, so it takes about 6 or so miles for me just to get to the gravel heading South out of town. I ended up riding almost an hour and a half. That's good to start with. I can build off of that.

Oh yeah.... Going in the other direction? That was fun!

4 comments:

Phillip Cowan said...

I think I might have the same cold. I haven't had one that put me down like this in over 10 years. Not sure if it's the same bug but it seems to be all over the Midwest. My boss got it from his grandkids and was then kind enough to come to work and give it to us in the shop. Nice eh? Lol. Hope your better soon.

Guitar Ted said...

@Phillip Cowan - Uggh! I hope that you recover quickly and completely. As for me, everyday is incrementally better. Another reason I did not want to over-do it yesterday. Short-circuiting my recovery would be a huge bummer.

john said...

Mark - Thanks for the link to the great Jeff Kerkove interview. A lot of interesting history in his story - both locally and the largest stages. Jeff is a wonderful representative for the cycling scene.
The Colorado Trail Race - I love this "It is one of the most stunning trails that you can walk your bike on"

Guitar Ted said...

@john - Thank you. I am glad that you listened to that and enjoyed it. I feel that Jeff doesn't get the credit he obviously deserves for his contributions and achievements in cycling.