Rides: Wind advisory, sleet, cold = cycling bliss

I shut my left eye and pedaled a few strokes, then closed it and opened my right eye and pedaled a bit before switching back to my left eye. Sometimes, I shut both eyes and rode blind. It was all I could do to protect myself from the frozen pebbles of rain that were stinging my eyes. It was freezing. There was a wind advisory in effect until midnight. It was a miserable day for cycling. Still, I had a blast. It was just the kind of conditions I wanted for the first ride of 2012. I wanted the ride to be memorable and indeed it was.

I didn’t go long. The ride lasted about an hour on my ‘cross bike over the dirt roads outside of northeast Ann Arbor. Just getting out and doing as many kilometers as possible was the goal for the day. I was close to staying indoors and doing a roller workout. There was a great temptation not to ride at all. I slept in until 8 a.m. When I took my dog out for her morning walk, the temperature was perfect for a ride, but there wasn’t enough time to go out before church. The forecast called for plunging temperatures in the afternoon along with freezing rain or snow showers. And that’s exactly what happened. After lunch, I tried to psych myself up for a ride, but I ended up  sitting down with a mug of tea and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” which I can’t seem to put down. At 2 p.m., I took a cat nap and woke up at 3 p.m. I stepped outside and the weather was absolutely wicked. Blustery winds, chilly, a dark brooding sky. “Screw this winter riding. I should just ride indoors until March,” I thought to myself. But as I mentally prepared for another roller workout, going outdoors became increasingly appealing. Then the dark clouds parted and there was a burst of sunshine. I started putting on my cold-weather gear and that lifted my spirits even more.

Once I got on the road, the sun disappeared, dark clouds re-emerged and strong winds began whipping me around the road. One gust nearly knocked me over. About five kilometers from home, just when I turned off on the dirt roads, the sleet began to fall. My black tights looked like someone had dumped sticky rock salt on them. The icey rain wasn’t melting and soaking my clothes, so I wasn’t too worried. The roads became wet with cake-batter mud, and my booties were quickly coated with the stuff. The sleet seemed to be coming down horizontally, finding its way through the top of my sunglasses and slamming into my eyeballs. Damn that hurt. It was a good pain, though. And the crazy masochist within me loved it.