Yeah, Probably The Right Choice.
When I made the decision to bail on Tuesday's ride because of the wind and headed for the trainer, I felt like a weakling.
"I used to ride in wind like this all of the time. You just put your head down and crank away. You may not get very far, but it will be a solid workout that will pay dividends in the future."
Fact is, my memory may have been a bit faulty there. I have never ridden in that kind of wind. Roofs were being blown off of houses. Trees were knocking out power lines. Cars were randomly changing lanes from the gusts. Trash cans and other normally-stationary objects were migrating from house to house. That was a "hunker down and wait it down and wait it out" kind of storm, not a "this is where I get my Belgian flahute card" kind of storm. We get wind in Southcentral Alaska. This was something... more.
Thanks to the extra weight, the earth has grown more attracted to me. However, even at my most corpulent couldn't have navigated a bike out in that wind. This wasn't the equivalent of a SoCal rider bailing on a ride because of a few sprinkles or a Florida rider dropping out because the temperature dipped below 50F. This just wasn't a possibility.
So, I sat in my garage and ground away on Zwift, listening to the incessant wind battering my garage doors. I channeled my frustration into the pedals, and saw power levels I haven't registered in some time. If the wife hadn't called me away to keep the youngest from doing harm to himself or others, I probably would have stayed there and kept going. I was angry. I was disappointed. I was frustrated.
Then, when I climbed off the trainer and mopped the copious amounts of sweat off of my body, I wasn't mad anymore. I was level-headed. I wasn't sorry I didn't ride through the maelstrom outside, because that would have been stupid. Not hardcore or Flandrien-esque or whatever Velominati-concocted standard is fashionable these days. Just stupid.
I can skip days like that. As long as I don't spend them sitting on the couch shoving Goldfish into my mouth, I'm probably fine there. I was really hoping to be done with the trainer for the year, but maybe I'll keep it set up for a few more weeks just in case.
This year has been full of surprises.
"I used to ride in wind like this all of the time. You just put your head down and crank away. You may not get very far, but it will be a solid workout that will pay dividends in the future."
Fact is, my memory may have been a bit faulty there. I have never ridden in that kind of wind. Roofs were being blown off of houses. Trees were knocking out power lines. Cars were randomly changing lanes from the gusts. Trash cans and other normally-stationary objects were migrating from house to house. That was a "hunker down and wait it down and wait it out" kind of storm, not a "this is where I get my Belgian flahute card" kind of storm. We get wind in Southcentral Alaska. This was something... more.
Thanks to the extra weight, the earth has grown more attracted to me. However, even at my most corpulent couldn't have navigated a bike out in that wind. This wasn't the equivalent of a SoCal rider bailing on a ride because of a few sprinkles or a Florida rider dropping out because the temperature dipped below 50F. This just wasn't a possibility.
So, I sat in my garage and ground away on Zwift, listening to the incessant wind battering my garage doors. I channeled my frustration into the pedals, and saw power levels I haven't registered in some time. If the wife hadn't called me away to keep the youngest from doing harm to himself or others, I probably would have stayed there and kept going. I was angry. I was disappointed. I was frustrated.
Then, when I climbed off the trainer and mopped the copious amounts of sweat off of my body, I wasn't mad anymore. I was level-headed. I wasn't sorry I didn't ride through the maelstrom outside, because that would have been stupid. Not hardcore or Flandrien-esque or whatever Velominati-concocted standard is fashionable these days. Just stupid.
I can skip days like that. As long as I don't spend them sitting on the couch shoving Goldfish into my mouth, I'm probably fine there. I was really hoping to be done with the trainer for the year, but maybe I'll keep it set up for a few more weeks just in case.
This year has been full of surprises.
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