My Bike Loves Sunshine!

I woke up this morning feeling fairly grumpy. With two sick, coughing kids demanding tea and movies and blankies starting promptly at 6am, I felt certain that today was going to suck my soul dry. The irony of a cold sunny day revealing itself just hours after I broke my favorite sunglasses along with the frustration of some lingering health issues brought anxiety and irritability.

After my best friend Michelle (who happens to live across the street) invited me over for coffee,  the day progressed slowly and my kids coughed less  as I sent them off to their rooms with books and snacks. The air grew warmer and I decided to head out by bike while the sun was still hanging overhead. Again, my kids pointed out the multitude of smallish bruises on the right side of my ass while I dressed. And again, I explained the bike saddle's pointy qualities and my inability to stop and dismount the bike without it jabbing me in the cheeks.

I completed my usual arctic-core layering of knee-warmers, tights, beannie, etc and even covered my shoes with my new, ultra-warm neoprene toe warmers before heading out west for a quick jaunt to Sebastopol and back. I wanted to get my lungs working and needed to clear my mind by blowing off some steam. As I darted across my street to the Joe Rodota trail, I noticed that my face wasn't freezing as it had been on all of my other rides thus far. My body also felt more relaxed and although my glasses were broken and the sun glared brightly in my eyes, I felt good.

As I approached Sebastopol, just west of Llano Road, it occurred to me that winter is almost over! The darkest nights have passed, the frogs were croaking away in the creek along the trail and the mustard flowers were blazing in the fields! Sonoma County rules! Although my winter-wonderland attire was a bit overkill for this sunny day and caused me to sweat like a pig, I felt a sudden surge in optimism and joy that the previous cold rides had hindered. My legs felt strong and all was good in my world. All except the annoying people riding doubles and taking up too much space on the trails. Also, I swallowed a huge bug while smiling at some older women walking their dogs,so there was that. Most everything about my body and anxiety felt improved, even if just for that hour of riding in the sunshiny air.