Wind

Wind has become by arch nemesis. It was the worst in Wyoming. In-order to keep up my mileage I was force to double the time on the bike. My longest day was 14hrs of riding and 16 hours total from when I left camp until I arrived at the next. I liken the wind to running up a down escalator. It’s much like riding a steep mountain all day without the benefits of the other side or even the sense of accomplishment derived from conquering a mountain. It’s frustrating on so many levels. It’s impossible to hear cars coming from behind until they are on top of you, it lowers your mileage, and you lean into it until a vehicle passes and you practically fall into the street, and it’s almost impossible to read a map. Some one from the map writing office wrote that the wind comes from the SE, but is “variable” I would love to have a chat with this person since in the 4 days that I peddled into 40-60 mph winds it didn’t deviate from the west. My throat grew raw and I felt as though I had a bad cold all of the time from the wind. I would ride in the morning until the wind picked up and then try and ride after dark since the winds were lower then. This made for very long days. I would describe my moods as bi-polar. When the wind was low and I was cruising I was the happiest I’d ever been but then the wind would pick up and my speed would drop by more than 50% and I would loose my composure, scream, yell, and shake my bike like a small child. It’s hard to describe the frustration when you know that this morning you could make this 40 miles in 2 ½ hours and now it’s going to take 7. I imagine this myself as Jekyll and Hyde. One day I tried to tie my shirt on as a cape since it would stand out horizontal in the wind though I just couldn’t make it work right. I tried just about anything to keep my mind off of the wind. This is one of those things that fit into the category of “ that which doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger”.