TIME THERE: 27 min.
TIME BACK: 30 min.
WEATHER: clear, 2C (-3C with windchill), 26 km/hr wind there; partly cloudy, 11C, 35 km/hr wind back
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, work shirt, sweatshirt, running gloves (gloves in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:
Oh my GOD, I hate biking in high winds!! I have to work really hard just to feel like I'm barely crawling along, and the wind burns my cheeks as it whips into my face, and it blows disgusting road dirt into my eyes so I'm constantly tearing up and squinting. GAH! I managed to avoid windy days all through the winter, so it's kind of disappointing that I'm battling it now that's it's spring and so lovely outside . . . aside from the wind, that is. Alas!
Well, maybe it's slowing me down, but biking into the wind is also making me fitter! (yay, I found a silver lining!!) As this handy website tells me, for every 5 mph of headwind a cyclist faces, it's equivalent to ~1% uphill grade. That means that I was riding something equivalent to a 4.4% uphill grade my entire ride home, and I guess it would have been higher than that on the parts of the ride that were actually uphill! Good thing my route is mostly flat, or I might've been in trouble! Regardless, I'm looking forward to the upcoming four-day weekend to rest my weary thighs.
On another note, I was reminded again about the great things about biking this morning. I had a really friendly chat with a fellow cyclist who pulled up beside me at a red light (I asked him for advice about whether it's too early to take off my studded tires - he said I'd be fine if I switched them out now). I exchanged "good morning"s with a couple of cyclists that I passed, and was cordially thanked by a pedestrian trying to cross the street for whom I stopped to let pass (some other cars didn't, so she was forced to wait at the side of the road until I stopped for her and THEN other cars followed suit). Biking is very social in that regard. Moreso than driving by myself (obviously!), and moreso than taking public transit, where in my experience the only people who talk to me are people asking for change at the bus stop. Biking is a whole lot more pleasant mode of transportation because of it.
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