Spring is a time of optimism. Stuff is growing and blooming. The sun is high in the sky. My skin is tanned. (Okay, we’ll leave out the part about the nagging, pollen-induced cough.) With warm air coming in, I often get a tailwind for the ride to work.
I am such a sucker for a tailwind. I’ve been riding a bike for over 50 years and I still let a tailwind convince me that I am in great biking shape. What an idjit!
Opening day is a tailwind. The home team looks utterly invincible. Look at all that talent. NOBODY can beat my team.
Then they start playing and you realize that the other team can hit and pitch and field too. Soon reality creeps in. There are all sorts of unpleasant things that can happen. You are reading the words of a man whose 12th birthday coincided with the beaning of Tony Conigliaro. Ugh. It’s hard to stay in the moment when you have that hideous picture of 22 year old Tony C.’s face with a massive bruise in the form of a baseball over his left eye.
But all is well. The Nats won. It took 10 innings but they got it done.
Opening day isn’t really about baseball. It is about optimism. It’s just going to be a great summer. I KNOW it. As I watched today’s Nats game I was giddy with the feeling that every day will be warm. There will be hikes and bike rides and summer days in the ballpark and vacations with friends and family. Life is a tailwind, baby.
The forecast for tomorrow morning calls for temperatures near freezing and a strong headwind.
Who’s in chahge of the weathah around heah? Bucky Fuckin’ Dent?
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
Tailwinds are everything! We need to feel like speedy beasts at least once in a while. I hope the season is a good one for your team 🙂
Man, was there a headwind today. I had to WORK HARD to get to work. Big white caps on the river too.
If you are out riding when the river starts acting like the ocean, you automatically get 75 bonus points. No one knows what the bonus points are for, but they do mean you are tough.