Yes. Yes. No.
The weather has been getting increasingly interesting on my little section of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Sunday the fog set in, reducing visibility to 100ft. I put on my obnoxiously yellow rain jacket, turned on my woefully inadequate red blinky light, and flapped down the road a little slower than the previous days. I kept my ears open for cars, because you would hear them long before you'd see them. Fortunately traffic was extremely light at 7:00 AM on Sunday, so I didn't see many. The fog slowly soaked into my clothes, gradually making me less and less comfortable, but I did what I set out to do.
Monday the fog returned and brought a steady light rain with it. Fine. I added shoe covers and wished for some fenders, but I set off and doubled the previous day's mileage. Flap, flap, flap... I saw very little wildlife, mainly because of the noise I was generating. I was flapping down a descent at around 35MPH when suddenly I started hitting loose gravel speed bumps running diagonally across the road. Not much you can do when they pop out of the fog but stay loose, ride them out, and try to stay upright. I rode until I didn't feel like riding anymore, then rode some more to get back to the car. Soggy but satisfied.
Tuesday I woke up to thunder and lightning on top of the rain and fog. I stared at the ceiling for a while then rolled over. Time for a rest day. No need to be on the highest ridges on the Blue Ridge Mountains when lightning is rippling through the sky. Plus, I'm fairly certain my shoes were still damp.
Barring bolts of electricity flying through the air, I'll get back out there tomorrow. I might get soaked again, but it's not what I call miserable when the temperature is around 70F. It's an excuse to slow down a bit and notice the little things. You might not travel as far, but you see more. Sometimes you have to go with the flow.
Sunday the fog set in, reducing visibility to 100ft. I put on my obnoxiously yellow rain jacket, turned on my woefully inadequate red blinky light, and flapped down the road a little slower than the previous days. I kept my ears open for cars, because you would hear them long before you'd see them. Fortunately traffic was extremely light at 7:00 AM on Sunday, so I didn't see many. The fog slowly soaked into my clothes, gradually making me less and less comfortable, but I did what I set out to do.
Monday the fog returned and brought a steady light rain with it. Fine. I added shoe covers and wished for some fenders, but I set off and doubled the previous day's mileage. Flap, flap, flap... I saw very little wildlife, mainly because of the noise I was generating. I was flapping down a descent at around 35MPH when suddenly I started hitting loose gravel speed bumps running diagonally across the road. Not much you can do when they pop out of the fog but stay loose, ride them out, and try to stay upright. I rode until I didn't feel like riding anymore, then rode some more to get back to the car. Soggy but satisfied.
Tuesday I woke up to thunder and lightning on top of the rain and fog. I stared at the ceiling for a while then rolled over. Time for a rest day. No need to be on the highest ridges on the Blue Ridge Mountains when lightning is rippling through the sky. Plus, I'm fairly certain my shoes were still damp.
Barring bolts of electricity flying through the air, I'll get back out there tomorrow. I might get soaked again, but it's not what I call miserable when the temperature is around 70F. It's an excuse to slow down a bit and notice the little things. You might not travel as far, but you see more. Sometimes you have to go with the flow.
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