Yesterday was one of those days that couldn't seem to decide whether it was very late summer or not-quite-early fall.
My ride started in a cool mist on Tosca, my Mercian fixed gear. It was actually pleasant: I felt every pore and orifice of my body opening in a very pleasant way.
I headed for the Rockaways. The cool mist clung to silent streets, still homes and closed stores--and to me--as I spun through the western Queens neighborhoods near my apartment.
But, after I crossed under the "el" (elevated tracks, or viaduct for those of you who don't live in New York), the warm mist turned into a mild steam bath on my way across Jamaica Bay to Beach Channel. Then, as I crossed the Veteran's Memorial Bridge into the Rockaways--and from the waves and clouds of Jamaica Bay to the tides and sky of the Atlantic--I experienced something I normally experience in early spring: the temperature seemed to drop 20 degrees (F). That is normal in April, when the air temperature on the mainland might be in the 70s (F), but the ocean is only in the 40s. Yesterday, however, the air and water temperature were probably not very far apart: somewhere near 70F, though it felt cooler along the Rockaway Boardwalk.
It's one of those odd coastal days that I truly enjoy: The sky is overcast, though still only slightly less blue than the sea on the horizon, and that cool mist swirling about me. I rode under that sky, by that sea and in that mist all the way to Point Lookout.
Then the clouds broke and the sun peeked through--at least as I looked eastward from the Point. Behind me, conditions were the same as the ones through which I'd ridden from the Rockaways.
And that is what I rode in all the way home. I didn't mind: Such conditions are actually welcome, at least for me, during the last few kilometers of a 125 kilo fixed gear ride!
My ride started in a cool mist on Tosca, my Mercian fixed gear. It was actually pleasant: I felt every pore and orifice of my body opening in a very pleasant way.
I headed for the Rockaways. The cool mist clung to silent streets, still homes and closed stores--and to me--as I spun through the western Queens neighborhoods near my apartment.
But, after I crossed under the "el" (elevated tracks, or viaduct for those of you who don't live in New York), the warm mist turned into a mild steam bath on my way across Jamaica Bay to Beach Channel. Then, as I crossed the Veteran's Memorial Bridge into the Rockaways--and from the waves and clouds of Jamaica Bay to the tides and sky of the Atlantic--I experienced something I normally experience in early spring: the temperature seemed to drop 20 degrees (F). That is normal in April, when the air temperature on the mainland might be in the 70s (F), but the ocean is only in the 40s. Yesterday, however, the air and water temperature were probably not very far apart: somewhere near 70F, though it felt cooler along the Rockaway Boardwalk.
It's one of those odd coastal days that I truly enjoy: The sky is overcast, though still only slightly less blue than the sea on the horizon, and that cool mist swirling about me. I rode under that sky, by that sea and in that mist all the way to Point Lookout.
Then the clouds broke and the sun peeked through--at least as I looked eastward from the Point. Behind me, conditions were the same as the ones through which I'd ridden from the Rockaways.
And that is what I rode in all the way home. I didn't mind: Such conditions are actually welcome, at least for me, during the last few kilometers of a 125 kilo fixed gear ride!
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