Categories: La Vie VelominatusNostalgiaTradition

La Vie Velominatus: Rebirth

Spring blossoms in Seattle

Wind is an asshole. I have no patience left for it. It has all of it been used up, gone, finished. It is the only force that I’m aware of (with the possible exception of gravity) that is more stubborn and less willing to listen to reason than I myself am. It blows me around on my bike, it embezzles speed from my Magnificent Stroke. No matter how emphatically I lose my temper with it, no matter the unprintable curses and insults I hurl in its direction, it just keeps on blowing like a big stupid blowing thing.

The weather systems that move in and out of the Puget Sound Convergence Zone are accompanied by a gale and, and as every Cyclist knows, gales blow exclusively against the direction of travel. With the changing seasons come the frequent storm systems and the unreliability of the meteorologists is amplified by the complexity of the weather patterns. Taking Bike Number One is a gamble during any of these times, but sometimes living dangerously feels better than it is sensible. Every now and then, taking #1 when you really shouldn’t can offer a bit of much-needed redemption.

Fall winds steel us for the arrival of colder, darker days. Winter around here comes with less wind, but with annoyances of its own. Our friends in more harsh climates than mine will agree: we have had a dark Winter here in the Northern Hemisphere. Seattle is a mild place to live, but even here the damp, cold, short days have taken their toll. The sun is down when I arrive at work, and it is down when I leave for home. With vitamin D in short supply, our moods sour, the chickens stop laying their eggs (there is no creature more entitled than a clucking chicken who refuses to lay an egg), and alcohol, food, and sloth start looking like viable plans of remediation.

But as Winter makes its slow exit, the winds begin to blow once again and Spring starts to dot hints that she is about to make her entrance. The redbud trees are in blossom, and the Earth is letting loose the green stalks of tulips and crocuses. The work we did over the winter was supposed to make us feel strong and fast; instead, trees bow to our arrival as the wind pushes against our face and robs us of the free flight that a Cyclist in form works so hard to achieve.

Nevertheless, this weekend I rode with bare legs, the strong headwind filling my senses with the fresh smell of damp, life-giving earth and budding blossoms. Rebirth is infectious and like the trees and plants around me, so too have I been reborn.

Wind might well be an asshole, but when it signals warmer, brighter days it somehow seems more tolerable. Vive la Vie Velominatus.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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PeakInTwoYears says:

Mar 10 2014 at 3:07 pm

Oh. My. God. I just realized why my eyes are itchy after the ride I just finished.

Spring is coming. Pollen is coming.
unversio says:

Mar 10 2014 at 3:15 pm

@cyclebrarian

@wiscot

...coming back in was a nightmare as I experienced 'the teeth' of the wind all the way home. ... it builds stamina and strength...at least that's what I keep telling myself.

Then we embrace the wind -- rejoice in thy suffering? I'll have to remember your words "stamina and strength" to tell myself all season.
unversio says:

Mar 10 2014 at 3:17 pm

@Ccos

Blame fluid dynamics too. Isn't only a straight on tailwind the only thing that'll not cause some sort of drag (maybe up to a few degrees either way)? At least that's what all those aero guys yap about. The freakin' deck is stacked wind wise.

I always refer to wind as a vector component.
anthony says:

Mar 10 2014 at 3:22 pm

This is my second ''winter'' in SoCal. while I have never ridden more or have been as tan, I miss ''Springtime'' in Portland. Never ending days of sunshine are just as depressing as never ending days of rain, who knew?
Brianold55 says:

Mar 10 2014 at 3:24 pm

First days of autumn down under, heading into the dark. But your dark is darker than ours. Still 30 degrees (Celsius!) here. cry about it. Is it a truism that wind is invariably never a tailwind?
frank says:

Mar 10 2014 at 3:38 pm

@Ccos

Blame fluid dynamics too. Isn't only a straight on tailwind the only thing that'll not cause some sort of drag (maybe up to a few degrees either way)? At least that's what all those aero guys yap about. The freakin' deck is stacked wind wise.

And I think that a block headwind will take more from you speedwise than the same block tailwind will give you because of your frontal surface area and speed squared and all that math crap that goes into it.

Wind is an asshole.
frank says:

Mar 10 2014 at 3:42 pm

@TheVid

For some, Spring is ushered in by blossoms and beauty. In my world, it is ushered in by rapid thaws of the inches thick ice on my street. Nothing like crossing 3 inch deep rivulets that create square shaped speed dips on your street to indicate that spring is here. Just a few more days of melt and the roads will be safe to traverse (ignoring of course all the pea gravel/sand placed on them by the winter road crews).

Just sand and no salt? That's a good thing at least. MN thaws also came with the painful reality that I couldn't ride #1 until after the first street sweeping in order to avoid the cursed salt from getting into everything.

@Jamie

You're from Wisconsin aren't you?

You know how to piss a brother off. Might as well suggest that I'm German while you're at it.

Remember the times where it just blows and blows uninterrupted across hundreds of kilometers and always in your face.

You obviously don't ride to Edmonds much, or out to Mercer from Seattle. The I90 bridge in particular is a doozy. But yeah, you can avoid the wind if you really want to, but avoiding it doesn't make me hate it any less.

@ChrissyOne

I remember riding into the wind along miles of beach and high plateau and I think of how right I wish Jamie actually was. Sadly though, the terrain that should shelter us from the wind usually only serves to make it blow in every direction at once.

Not to mention amplifying the intensity as it howls through the valleys.
frank says:

Mar 10 2014 at 3:47 pm

@Mike_P

We had a beautiful weekend here in the south of England. I rode with the guns on show for the first time this year and it was fantastic. The only problem is that they look much like two sticks of white chalk. Tan lines need work!

You mean like this?
cyclebrarian says:

Mar 10 2014 at 3:48 pm

@frank

Agreed. I was quick on the way out yesterday (well, for me at least) and was all full of myself...then the wind. I didn't even look down to see how fast I wasn't going on the way in...the gusts were demoralizing enough. My grandmother was right: pride does cometh before a fall.
Puffy says:

Mar 10 2014 at 5:23 pm

it just keeps on blowing like a big stupid blowing thing.

Quote of the year right there. Love it.