Day Fifteeen Tuesday 29th May 2007

Forecast for today: Tuesday A morning shower or two, then rain periods developing in the afternoon. Fresh north to northwesterly winds, strengthening during the day and reaching gale force at times.
Precis: Rain periods developing. Windy City: Min 14 Max 19

5 am start out into the dark, awoke to hear the wind, sounded pretty ominous, wasn't looking forward to the ride. Ride can only be described as 1. exciting, 2. scary, 3. slow, 4. wobbly and 5. fun.

The news has just said that the wind speeds in the city were measured at 110 km!

1.Exciting -I think the wind was close to gale force as I started and fortunately we live in the north west of the city. I think I said something about you never get the reward of a tail wind after a head wind. Today, I was wrong. I was in top gear after a few turns of the pedals, and pedaling was effortless. The wind wasn't even cold. In fact I would go as far as to say it was warm.

2. Scary- As I rode into the city and the wind direction changed as it was funneled around by the various canyons that the tall buildings form, I notice a pedestrian standing at an intersection leaning at 45 degrees. The wind hits me as I cross the intersection, I am being blown across the lane into the traffic. I have to lean at about 45 degrees to stay upright. I go slowly and make it across the intersection with out going sideways int the tram coming up beside me.

3. Slow- In the city again blustery wind hits straight on and my pedaling is taking me no where fast, the maple leaves swirl around me as if calling the wind to come and play and the wind disappears, chasing the maple leaves up the street behind me.

4. Wobbly- blustery wind it here, its there, it isn't here. Lean, stop leaning, don't fall over!

5. Fun - I have made it to work in no time at all and it has been great fun.

Have taken my little LED light off my trike and put it on the hybrid to help add a bit of light along the way, both to be seen and to see. I am lucky enough that the box that holds the batteries fits into the bottle cage. I am quite proud of this little light which I assembled myself with only year 10 high school electronics.

Lights up the back lane very well, compare these to the other LED light (a commercial light) I was using (picture in previous day). Was really good in the windy conditions, added an extra level of anxiety reduction because I could see well ahead.

Easily seen from the front, which was also good in the dark, windy morning.


This LED light throws a fantastic amount of light from a rechargeable 9 volt battery pack.

The trip home was a little slower because it had been raining for a lot of the afternoon and the warm wind of the morning had changed to a cold and wet wind. It really feels like winter, cold, dark and wet, miserable really. These were the conditions of the night when I nearly got run over turning across the traffic in the dark. So I ride with caution. Traffic is always heavier when the weather is wet, and anecdotally it seems people have more accidents in the wet. Although the research says differently about fatal accidents and rain. Fatal accidents generally go down as precipitation increases. However, it does say that there are more accidents in the wet when there has been a long time between the last bit of rain, and we have been in drought for a long time. I am tired also, time for sleep soon, important to take it easy.