My face hurts from the wind, my legs hurt because I’m not riding enough, I can’t breathe because it’s cold and I’m not sure I still have feet. Other than that I’m having a blast riding in Wisconsin this winter.
To be honest we’ve been very lucky with the weather, our temperatures have been in the mid 30’sF to the low 40’sF so its been easy to get out and ride. It’s just that even in those temperatures with the right gear (and I have it) there is a fair amount of suffering going on.
Also as much as I like to its much more difficult to take cycling photos during winter rides. For some reason my landscape photos never look as good as the Rapha guys photos — first they never look cold. Maybe because it’s a photoshoot where the crew and talent camper filled with hot coco is just out of frame. I’m sure another reason is that they get to roll around amazing Alpine scenes with majestic mountain landscapes – I have cow pastures, muddy plowed corn fields, windy county roads and frozen lakes. Truthfully I should be glad I can take any photos with my frozen fingers.
But no matter the temp or wind chill, every time I do get to go out and ride I work hard to find the beauty in the ride and in the landscape, be it bright and sunny or grey and dark. In the world I live in you have to accept any weather you get if you want to ride your bike all year long. So while I know it will never be as pretty as a catalog shoot and the wind will do it’s best to knock me off the bike — like Dorothy said “There’s no place like home” and for me thats riding in Wisconsin — winter, spring, summer and fall.
Once my hands thaw out, I might have to go draw a picture–maybe one with some sunshine in it.
Ride safe.
Mike
