It's a nice Friday afternoon. I beg and plead with my friend Megan to ride her bike outside with me. Actually, it was her original idea a week before.
I know it's 38 degrees and I know there is a slight flurry in the air. She texts me twice that day.
Text #1 - happy hour instead?
Text #2 - it's snowing.
Each time, I returned the messages with,
Text #1 - go for it, I won't be joining you
Text #2 - so, we'll be fine.
Funny thing about the two of us. We both grew up in Spokane. We've lived in the four seasons all of our lives. And, we were both auto parts girls at Schuck's in our early 20s. I'm quite sure, we can change the oil on our bikes if we needed to but change a flat, we'll we still need some extra lessons on that.
I will tell you I was prepared for the outdoors that day. My outdoor buddy has taught me well. How to layer. How to wear clothes. And, how "cotton kills."
We unloaded our bikes, got on the Fish Lake Trail and headed out for a nice 15 mile ride. I'm pretty sure there was no one else on the trail except a few homeless people sleeping in the trees.
But, not after we came through.
That day, we were getting out our pent up frustration, our Friday fiery and our fancy Fuji's (not to be confused with apples) were ready to ride fast.
I love to ride. Megan is just starting. I would say instead of LOVE...it's more like LO and after we rode that day, she was off to REI for appropriate gear.
You see, she wore $5 half gloves (her fingers were frozen), a Chinese cotton blend coat (remember cotton kills) and her ears were as a red as the first sunburn of the summer season.
There is something you can do when you are cold and you have options.
Ride faster.
Raise your voice.
Both.
Yes, yell at the top of your lungs like Bob in What about Bob? You remember that 1991 movie, where a successful psychiatrist loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients, a highly manipulative obsessive-compulsive, tracks him down during his family vacation.
Let's just say, Megan and I had Tourette's. It felt really good. Better than good. Fantastic even.
So, what do 38 degrees + What about Bob? + cotton kills have in common = combined they make a phenomenal stress reliever
Thanks Pigs, I had a great ride.
My first 40 miler was on a 40º day in Seattle. I had layered thin knit gloves with my half gloves, wore a long sleeve runner's microfiber shirt with a vest and running pants over my bike shorts. I froze solid by the midpoint of the ride. I was crippled and miserable. Despite efforts to increase the pace, it just kept getting worse. And I had no choice but to finish the ride. Now I own every cold weather cycle-specific article of clothing Pearl Izumi makes. Just in time to move to SoCal...
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