I commute

some days.....

Some days, like yesterday, the greatest occurance is my ride home. Sunny, with temperatures in the 30's, winds from the northwest, gusting to 25 mph. I travel northwest; and so ....

- The sun part: low on the horizon and quite frequently in my eyes.
- The temperature part: low enough to cause eyes to tear and nose to run, fingers and toes to tingle (after a while); colder seeming, of course, because of the headwinds.
- And then the winds: strong enough to require effort equal to a week's worth of normal commutes (so it seemed at the time anyway); like climbing a mountain, I say; taking my breath away; bouncing off buildings and pushing my front wheel (no, I don't want to go that way!)

If there's consolation, it's that I've learned to keep my back muscles from stiffening up -- Use the gears I tell myself, make your legs do the work, breath deep and push out that abdomen.