What a Difference a Week Makes......

This is the kind of post that has the potential to make those of you who live in colder climes to hate me. Or at least hate my words. Today was one of those weird weather days in the South that tend to make us forget all the crappy days we've had.

Last Sunday when I rode my bike, I had to wear a long-sleeved t-shirt, a jersey, a jacket, a neck warmer, ear warmers, fleece-lined tights, full-fingered gloves, my Wigwam socks (the warmest socks I have ever owned, hands down....make that feet down), and what Katydid calls our "boat" cycling shoes.

Today I was able to wear a short-sleeved jersey, no t-shirt underneath, no jacket, fingerless gloves, knickers (not the kind they wear in England), thin socks, and my Keen cycling shoes. Temperatures today were in the 70's with a light wind. It was more like an annoying wind at times, but I'm certainly not going to complain. I needed to ride 10.41 miles today to meet my January goal; I wound up riding 27. I was never far from home, but I kept doing little loopy-loops.

It's hard to believe that three weeks ago today we had 7 inches of snow on the ground. In fact, I saw a couple piles of it STILL on the ground, piled up beside the road in shady patches that won't see the sun until sometime mid-May.

I don't know about other Southerners, but on days like this I try to cram as much in as I can. Because you never know when it's going to dip down into the 20's again. Our weather is supposed to deteriorate this week, getting colder every day and rain at least three days this week. When I was riding my bike, I saw a bunch of folks out on their motorcycles, so I thought to myself, "I'll go home and get the Harley out for the first time in months." Before that, though, I thought I would load up the kayak and take it to the park for some paddling around the lake.

None of that actually happened, though. When I rode past the back part of the park, I remembered that the lake is only about half full. There's enough to kayak, but not in a lot of areas of the lake. Then when I got home and put the bike up, I remembered there is a broken elliptical parked behind my Harley, and I can't move it by myself.

Darn.

I was forced to fold a load of laundry and play the Wii. Still not a total waste of a perfectly beautiful day.

A Perfect Day for Cycling......

If I could dial up a perfect day for cycling, I would design one just like today. It was pleasantly warm, just enough breeze to be comfortable, blue sky with not a cloud in sight.

I tried to talk myself out of riding, since I had just had my hair cut and hated to put on a helmet, but I just couldn't waste a day as perfect as this one.

It was my favorite kind of ride (if I MUST ride alone) in that I left home with sort of a general destination in mind, but not a route. Of course I can't meander forever, so eventually I asked Hubby via text what time he would finish playing golf and then I planned to be at the golf course when he finished. The timing was perfect too. I inched up the kick-arse hill that leads to the golf course, and I still averaged over 13 mph. If I had looked at the GPS and realized I had ridden 15.98 miles, I would at least have circled around the parking lot to get those other two hundredths.

Two funny things happened on my ride today. Not hold-onto-your-sides-fall-onto-the-floor-laughing funny, just sort of chuckle funny. Or maybe you won't find them funny at all. Maybe I was just drunk on the perfect October day.

Not long after I left home, I had to cross a major highway that connects I-85 to Athens, home of the University of Georgia. It's a very busy highway with a gazillion red lights on it. I was at an intersection where there isn't a whole lot of traffic, but there is a traffic light. There were no cars, and I wondered if I would be able to set off the sensor to trip the light. [Note here: It's a magnetic field, it's not the WEIGHT of a car that makes the light change. So there.] I drank some water and glanced down the highway. There was an 18-wheeler approaching, and I realized he was stopping. I had managed to trip the light just in time to make him stop. As I crossed in front of him, I raised my left hand with my palm to the sky and mouthed to the driver, "I'm sorry!" He laughed and waved me on across the road. I thought that was cool.

Later I was riding through the Little Town of Bethlehem, home to many streets with Biblical names and a post office that gets inundated with folks sending their Christmas cards to be mailed FROM there every year. And a huge church that a race horse built. Oh, and a poultry processing plant. Gotta love riding by there at certain times on a hot summer's day. Anyway, I was passing the poultry plant and heard a car behind me. The car slowed down as it got even with me, and I thought "Uh oh." Then the driver said, "Hey!" And I thought, "Oh crap." I was afraid it was going to be one of those guys who throws bottles of water at cyclists or at the very least screams obscenities at them.

It was one of my students. He recognized me because I had my bicycle at school last week. I told him to stop wasting gas, he laughed, and they went on. It made me smile because even with his car full of friends, he stopped to speak to HIS TEACHER. On a BICYCLE. And he was NICE to me.

Man, I hope the weather next weekend is exactly like it was today. It's times like this when I love living in the South.