Me and the Birdie...

On my ride yesterday...

We had two things in common: we were working hard to move forward; I by pedaling and the birdie by flapping its wings, and we were both going pretty much nowhere but rather holding more of a stagnant position. Had we given up we most certainly would have gone backward very fast. Yes, that is what I have to say about my ride yesterday. First of all I really need to find a local weather guru similar to Ray's Weather in the high country because weather.com just isn't cutting it. A forecasted 20-30mph winds was more like a reality of 40-60mph winds. The first 45 min or so of the ride were not too bad, I was just getting out of town and out to the area I wanted to ride in. The wind was strong but it was ridable and noting I couldn't handle. I even saw a few others out, which meant it must not be too bad. Conveniently I get myself all the way out of town to 79th (broadway is 9th) and I start to loop around, headed for a canyon climb to finish my ride. I make my way along the roads and get back to 63rd with no problems. Then it was about 1/4 to 1/2 way across 63rd that I looked out across the open land and thought: "man, that wind looks like it's coming in strong"...but I've been alright so far...right? Yeah! right into the ditch! The wind was picking up and the gusts were mostly unmanageable. Luckily I figured out a trick. Just as the wind would start to blow me off my bike to the right and into the ditch I would unclip my left foot and swing some momentum that way to keep myself upright and just use my left foot as a skidding base to counter my wheels being thrown across the pavement and into the gravel...it was just splendid. I had to literally stop a few times just to get myself back on track. I didn't dare go too fast because I knew that would make the random gusts harder to control and I would probably end up on my face at speed. I thought "if I can just get to the north-south running street I will have a head wind rather than a side and I will be able to control that better". Um...yeah, that didn't work out soo well either. I had a head wind alright and this is when I meet my friend birdie, who was also trying to go North and making very little progress. I found I was semi-correct about the headwind being better for handling the bike. However, every now and then it would have little angled approaches and then rather than just being thrown one way I would get caught in a swerve where my bike would literally basically flip the front wheel back and forth, left, right, left, while I tried to control it without too much force, which would of course result in a crash. I had to stop a few time to wait for the wind to calm down. Dirt and dust was screaming across the fields and at times pelting my face and getting in my eyes, even though I had glasses on. Eventually even I just broke down and put my hand out...it was time to hitch hike back to Boulder. I knew I would have to do this once I made it to the main road because the wind was guaranteed to be strong there and I would be lined up to be blown right into the middle of a main hwy. Lucky for me a nice man in a truck picked me up and took me back to North Boulder where I knew I could make it back relatively safely. It was a good thing because his truck was being blown...I think I might have actually had some take off action with wheels leaving the pavement if I had attempted that. Even once back in town I had a close call and somehow as I was smashed up against a curb I managed to hop up on the sidewalk rather than crashing back in the direction of traffic. Needless to say I will not ride in that again, I will not call MI "windy" anymore and I will find an accurate weather forecaster for this area.

Winds such as there also result in some pretty nasty destruction sometimes. Boulder saw two fires yesterday and at least one of them was very bad. I believe power lines were blown out and that is how the blaze started. After meeting my Uncle Mike for dinner out East of town I could see the blaze in the Mtn on my way back to the foothills and it was an incredible sight. The way fire and ambers can light up a dark sky, the smoke billowing above the mountain range. I hate to say it has a strange beauty to it as many things in nature do, but it's massive destruction of the wildlife and peoples homes can be devastating and hard to recover from. Best thought and wishes to all those impacted and a big thanks to those who spent hours fighting it.