The Bicycle Chronicles Continue

I discovered an interesting new facet of bicycling this weekend. It's called headwind. I have to say, I don't like it. My husband and I took a drive down to St. Genevieve, MO, to ride there. We got to cross the Old Miss on a ferry. Twice. I think I would have enjoyed the ferry ride a lot more if I weren't hanging over the side panting and watching the swirly water laugh at me.

It was a windy day. A very windy day. The first two miles of the ride were quite pleasant, then we rode to the top of a levy and all enjoyment went bye-bye. Hurricane gusts of 20-25 mph winds slammed into us continuously. If it wasn't trying to knock my over sideways, it was trying to push me backwards. I had to pedal going downhill. How's that fair? I pushed and pushed against the wind for the longest five miles of my life. On flat land. Turtles passed me.

We came to a small town and stopped at the general store. I couldn't feel my legs or arms and my face was burning. My ears were ringing. I had sand in my teeth. I woofed down a Snicker's like there was a million dollar prize at the end of it. The thought of continuing for 15 more miles made me cry. Luckily, we changed direction and had the wind at our backs the rest of the way. It was the best ride we've done yet. You can bet your ass I'll be checking the weather channel for our next ride. Any wind over 5 mph, I'm calling it a day.