I always say don’t make plans, make options.
Jennifer Aniston

It’s been a week since I posted.  I’m a little surprised about it.  I had a bad cold for a week and then it got cold and rained every day.  It was forty degrees Fahrenheit with hard rains.  The fields around me were flooded and it was nasty.  I got on the bike for a couple short cold rides but nothing significant.  I decided that today would be the first real ride.  I was excited and I was ready.

I got up and it was warm outside with a lot of wind, but no rain.  Fantastic.  I could handle a little wind.  Notice in the pic on the right that there are gusts of wind at 24mph.  Ok, not a problem.

I went to the MUP in Oberlin and started riding.  The wind was tough but doable when a mile in I hit a pothole and got a flat tire.  Damn, I tried to fix it and it didn’t hold so I went back to my car and decided to take the bike to Swerve Bike Shop in Oberlin.  They are always nice to me.

On the way back to the car I saw one of the round buildings, The Oberlin Gas Lighting Company Gasholder Building.  Since I was there I decided to take a picture of it with my bike.  You get a picture of the bike, the building and my finger.

Then I went to Swerve where they fixed my tire, sold me an additional tube and adjusted my gears.

I got back in my car and was tempted to call it a day.  The wind had picked up.  The gusts had gone up to 44mph.  I headed home.

When I approached Pittsfield I decided that I needed to ride, to hell with the wind.  I parked at the park in Pittsfield and decided to head into the wind toward Camden.  The wind was brutal.  It was like riding through molasses.

After a couple miles the wind shifted and started coming from the south.  I had to tilt the bike into the wind to stay upright.  One nice thing I noticed was that everyone was giving me plenty of room on this 55 mile per hour road.

I reached Camden and had enough.  The wind was kicking my ass so I turned around.  Just as I did I saw a Turkey Vulture eyeing me.  I figured he knew more than I did. The ride back was so much easier.

Before I left the battery in my bike computer died so I used the cyclemeter app on my iPhone to keep track of things.  This was a bit frustrating because I had no live display.

When I got back I found I only rode 6.31 miles.  That was pathetic.  It will get better.  Combine it with the flat tire ride I put in 9 miles for the day.  What can I say?