Okay okay. I know this is a whine, but I am cold, tired & frustrated and I blame the wind.

Freaking invisible tourturer was gusting 10-15 mph over the steady wind today - all but literally stopping me in my rolling "tracks". Gear down and spin you say! Yeah, right. 5 above granny and spinning like crazy - which I hate - and I still felt like I was going nowhere. Momma didn't raise me to be a masochist and I have hated the last two days of riding, cutting both rides short by half. Every ache, pain and niggling aggravation I experienced over the summer returned in force and I blame it on 'Mariah' Riding the levee in a crosswind, levee changed directions and while avoiding bikepath debris went down tearing the saddle covering! Aaaaaaaaaaargh! The fall also ripped my brand new knee warmers (yeah, I know, I'm a wimp - knee warmers in Louisiana?!?!?!). Damn Mariah!

Local cycling club is having a 200k brevet tomorrow that I'd considered trying (after saying randonneuring really isn't something I wanted to try, my recent bike tour experience caused me to reconsider and maybe give it a try) but it's an out-&-back route and that would mean fighting the wind all the way back based on the predicted direction. Pfffft. Like I said, Momma didn't raise no fools.

I'm basically an unemployed/retired, cash-strapped foolish old fart so I don't have real athletic-specific clothing for "bad" weather. My rain & wind gear is what I'd wear on the street - wrong thing to do on a bike I know. Arrrgh Mariah! So I layered up a bit and tried that - wrong thing to do as it didn't cut the wind much and left me cold, damp and stinking. Mariah!

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For those who didn't catch it: They call the wind, Mariah! is a song from the musical film, Paint Your Wagon.