Unprepared

I briefly glanced at the weather before jumping on the bike and heading to work yesterday.

It said something like highs in the high 30’s with flurries.

Eh. No big deal I thought as I threw on the lighter tights, lesser top layers and lighter gloves.

By the time I got to the end of my street, the flurries were crazy. The temp was fine, but the flurries were blizzard-like swirling and coming down fast.

The first regret was not wearing sunglasses. With all the snow in the air, I had to keep my head down and eye lids fluttering just to see.

The second regret was hauling a ceramic space heater to work on my back. The extra load certainly didn’t help my level of discomfort.

On top of all that, to take my mind off the pending doom (for sure I was going to wreck or some car was going to hit me) I decided to use my legs more for breaking instead of the actual brake. No. I obviously wasn’t thinking clearly.

After 30 minutes of treachery, I finally made it to work. Now all I needed was for the snow to melt and the ride home would be fine.

Skip ahead 8 hours, the snow is gone, but something really bad has happened. Though the snow is gone, the temperature plummeted throughout the day. Here at 5:30pm with the sun down, the temperature was in the low 20’s with a really stiff wind. That would make it feel like single digits outside and I didn’t dress for single digits.

Oh well. As long as I’m moving I’ll be fine right? The worst part is usually waiting at the light right out from my office.

I caught the light without having to wait. Sweet! Everything should be fine.

Eh.

It’s cold.

It’s really cold and really windy.

I decide to take the Struble Trail home. It’s tree lined and should provide some shelter.

No dice. It was like a freaking wind tunnel. Didn’t take long before I couldn’t feel my thumbs anymore. There wasn’t any painful period or numbness or anything. They went right to ice blocks.

All I could was put my head down and pedal. The ride was only 30 minutes. It wasn’t going to kill me.

Taking the Struble Trail ends with two possible routes. The first is straight up a mile long climb, while the other meanders on the road for an extra 4 miles. Considering the conditions I opted for the climb. Climbing would surely warm me up and get me home faster.

Everything but my thumbs got warm. At the top I was now riding directly west into the wind. My cheeks started to burn. Alternately I’d swap left and right hands to shield my cheeks momentarily.

Finally home and in the house, I survived!

Now the fun part.

The pain came on strong as my thumbs started to recirculate.  There was nothing I could do but sit there and let them throb. Meanwhile I was stuffing myself with a hot dinner and going back for seconds.

An hour or so later, I noticed a distinct burning sensation in my thumbs. It felt as if I’d previously touched something hot. Of course that wasn’t the case.

All is fine now and the pain temporary, but very dumb day indeed.

– b