Saturday, November 28, 2009

Post-Thanksgiving Day Blues

Not the normal 'blues' you are thinking of- I'm talking about the BLUE HUES of the sky this AM when we were out at 5:30 for our ride. Rain was predicted, but being the Southern California Optimists that we are, we figured, 'No, it will rain later in the day!'. Well, at "O-Dark-30", often it's a bit hard to tell what the sky has in store for you. Today, all signs were 'go' as we started out. No wetness on the ground, stars in the sky (even though intermittent clouds could be seen with the reflected light of the city), and a mild breeze coming off the ocean.

Oh, how I, and my 'mate', miscalculated. About 30 minutes in, the colors that cracked through the horizon were an angry mixture of magenta's and blossoming blues. It looked like the sky was bruised as the Earth was hurriedly waking up. And as the pitch blackness gave way to the steel greys and mottled mixture of color, we were witness to the violence on the surface of the seas. White caps the size of ships came hurtling towards shore, their path about to come crashing, literally, into the landmass in front of them.

A perfect example of the force of the front with which we waged our slug fest- a downhill portion of our ride I usually average 40-45 mph (simply coasting) was instead replaced with a grueling, grinding cadence to try to stay at 20mph. My average watts at that point were around 450-500. Very interesting. And very challenging.

Those of you that have ridden around the Palos Verdes Peninsula know, however, that one moment you are fighting with the forces of nature (today in particular, the god Aeolus) but the next moment, you are the beneficiary of what was once an 'opposing force'.

Now those were sweet and precious minutes indeed! If only every ride could feel as if i had wings! But that's part of the fun, isn't it? To take what we envision as the perfect moment, and strive to attain it. Whether it be on a bike, or at any snapshot in time. A chance to turn the 'blues' into a breathtaking explosion of energy and color.

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