Soaked. Nothing left.

Got the family packed up and sent off for their pilgrimage to the Motherland yesterday. I'll be joining them in a few weeks, but until then I thought I'd take the day and join a few others in putting in some winter miles. The forecast: Low 60's, 10-20 mph winds, and rain. Perfect except for the wind and rain. I despise wind and rain, but I really hate the cold. Couple the three and you have a recipe for misery. But winter is here and the miles won't wait. Enter the rain bike.

There's a funny thing about riding in the rain. It makes you feel alive. The water streaming down your face and off of your bike, rooster tails of spray coming from the wheel in front of you making it difficult to see and breathe. Makes you feel like you're in Paris-Roubaix; like a warrior. And I must say, with 20 miles in, I was feeling pretty good. The effects of Saturday's ride were wearing off. Soreness and stiffness had left the legs. I can do this. 20 more miles and things were about to change.

"So you comin' back to the islands with us?" my comrades asked. Turn down miles? Me? The prospect of extra miles was tempting. Cold was setting in and I was feeling the ill-effects. The thought of continuing this affair was leaving me. "We'll see," I sighed. I was giving in already and we hadn't even turned the corner. Hadn't even seen the headwind. Maybe I'll go half way with them. Ten miles to go. We turned the corner.

A stiff headwind was now staring us in the face. Water was all over the road. We weren't even pushing the pace and my feet felt like cinder blocks, my legs like wood. I took a short pull. The anchors attached to my legs were doing nothing. I dumped it onto the smaller chainring, that'll help. Nope. Pull over and let somebody else take it. On second thought guys, why don't I just ride back to my place. You know, put in one more pull and leave it at that. I bid them adieu and thanked them for the ride. I regret not going back with them. I had to get the chill out of my body, feeling back in my feet, some power back in my legs.

I had nothing left.