Consecutive bicycle work commute number 2260:
There was a high wind warning predicted for today. They weren't lying. I woke up to the house shaking from the howling wind. As I prepared I found myself dreading what was waiting for me on the other side of the insulated walls.
Had I not had this stupid-long commuting streak going, I would have thrown in the towel and driven. That is, if my truck wasn't in the shop getting repaired. So I even if I didn't have the the streak, I had no choice but to ride my bicycle.
On Thursdays my usual routine is to ride to our company office, then at lunch ride to a client's office. Sometimes in the winter when weather is this extreme I will skip the ride to the office and just ride right to the client. That cuts the day's commute distance by more than half.
Today, however, is my favorite work day of the year: we're having our company gift exchange and pot luck. This always turns into an absolute laugh riot, and I didn't want to be at a client location and miss it. So in order to attend I was going to have to ride the full 8 miles to our office. As a concession, I decided to stay the whole day at the office and not travel to the client, so that would knock about 6 miles off what normally would be a 22 mile day.
The winds were steady at 30+ mph, with gusts much higher than that. My thermometer said 34°F as I was loading up my pannier bags, but this was projected to quickly drop during upcoming hour. Normally when the temp is above 20°F I don't wear my ski goggles, so I had put on my riding glasses. Right before I walked out of the door into the garage I heard the wind, and decided to go ahead and leave the glasses at home and wear my goggles.
I am so glad I made that last second eyewear choice, as if I had not it would have been a catastrophic decision. Riding straight into that wind was brutal. From the time I left the house to the time I arrived at the office the temp dropped 16 degrees, making it 18°F when I pulled into our parking lot. The wind chill was calculated to be -20°F or lower. Without the ski goggles my eyes would have turned into raisins.
Riding into the steady wind was tough enough, but the gusts felt like misery on a stick. Several gusts were easily over 50 mph, and I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of them topped 60 mph. The wind was strong enough that I had to pedal down steep hills to keep from losing momentum. For most of the ride I kept the chain in the smallest ring of my triple. I tried to spin, but even with the low gearing I was often mashing the pedals to keep the bike moving.
The news said that west of us there have been wind gusts even higher, with one gust recording 144 mph. That's category 4 hurricane strength. I'm very thankful that I didn't have to ride through anything near that level, although it would have made for an interesting story if I did.
A couple miles from the house snow began to fall. With the wind, the snow wasn't accumulating, just adding to the assorted debris hitting my face. I must admit a few times during the ride I started to audibly grumble.
I finally arrived at the office after an hour and twenty minutes of riding to travel 8 miles, which was a 6 mph average. My body hadn't warmed up at all from the effort of pedaling, and I was a complete popsicle. I felt like I had just taken a beating. When I walked in the door several coworkers commented that I looked quite haggard.
The wind is supposed to continue throughout the day and maybe even strengthen a bit. The temperature will continue to drop, reaching the single digits. The wind will shift this afternoon, so I won't get the push home I wanted. Instead it will be more of a cross-wind. I'm anticipating being exhausted by the time I get back to the house.
Even after my post-ride hot shower I was still cold. I had brought an ugly sweater to wear during the gift exchange party, but I decided to not wait until then and put it on immediately. It doesn't meet the company dress code, but I'll worry about addressing that if one of the owners says anything. I doubt they will. After 19+ years of working for this company they have gotten use to my weirdness.