Story for An East Wind Blowing

After several long days of smoke drifting down from a barely contained wild fire in the mountain north of Athens, I think we all gave a little cheer when the winds shifted. Over Friday night, the choking haze gave way to clear and crisp skies.  As much as the cycling gods gave us for Single File Saturday's jaunt, they are jealous and fickle deities - so it came at a price.

There is craft and art to cycling that I greatly respect but I also accept that there are some paradoxes to it as well.  Yes, you should do work on the front but you also have to be mindful of the consequences.  I find it perfectly acceptable for someone to fall to the back without taking their turn on the front if they know they need every ounce of strength to hold onto the group.  Just don't go and challenge for a sprint after saving all that strength.  Today’s conditions called for me personally to ride smart.  Work when I could but also use the group to shelter and protect me.

With our intrepid band of zealots prepared, we set out into those very winds.  If you know the quote above from Sherlock, hopefully you will also know the whole quote from Conan Doyle - "... It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast. But it's God's own wind none the less and a cleaner, better, stronger land will lie in the sunshine when the storm has cleared."

Let me speak candidly for a moment about these sorts of rides. 

People do get dropped. 

For some, this is such an anathema, such a fear, that they will avoid a ride altogether. For years I must confess to being that sort of rider. I also recall being frustrated when I had middling performances at other rides on which I had spent actual money. But cycling is one of the sports where you must be willing to fail to become the better, stronger version of your cycling self.  That is what I love about it.  You almost always learn something new on every ride.

Challenges can be opportunities and to Suffer is to Learn