Winter has its charms. Take today for instance. As I rode to work, the temperature rose to about 50 degrees. Winds were light. I had to unzip my jacket. It’s hard to complain about that. My normal solitude was interrupted by Ed, a Friday Coffee Clubber who lives near me. Ed has an interesting skill. He can carry on a conversation while riding without impeding bike trail traffic. I don’t quite know how he does it. It was a good talk that lasted for about 1/3rd of the ride to work before he veered off for his office in DC.
I arrived at work damp, from sweat. It’s January 4. How did that happen?
The ride home was colder and windy. There was some lingering daylight that made me nearly joyous. Can you believe it?!!! Light!!! OMG!
Soon it was dark. The wind was at my back. Life was good. The car parked at 420 N. Union Street blocked part of the bike lane. So I finally said Enough and called the police. Let’s see what happens.
The church bells of Old Town were ringing their 6 pm song.
South of Old Town where the bike trail is free of metal fart barges, my brain veered off into a narrative about things that could happen. It was like a mental movie. There was violence and some strong negative emotions. My adrenaline spiked and I found myself speeding up. That’s when I returned my focus to the white circle formed by my headlight and the calming rhythm of my pedaling. The trail angled upward and my commuting trance, what Flogini calls my meditation, took over.
I arrived home and went inside to do my physical therapy exercises. Mrs. Rootchopper says women would call it yoga but men call it PT or back exercises. (She’s right. More than half of what I do I see on the morning yoga program on TV. Of course, the TV yoga people are elastic and I am kevlar cords.)
Tonight as I was doing a side plank, my foot cramped up. It was seriously painful and ugly. It was not a full moon but my foot looked like the Dr. Pepper guy’s hand in American Werewolf in London.
My big toe was at 11 o’clock and my other toes were at 2 o’clock.
I finally got my foot to calm down. I re-did the plank on my left side then switched to my right side.
FOOT CRAMP!
I check to see if there was a full moon. There wasn’t. So I won’t be changing my name to Loup Garou.
The cramps subsided. I finished my plank then tried my bird dog exercise.
FOOT CRAMP!
I gave up.
I am pretty sure that the cramps are caused by a combination of cold weather and insufficient hydration.
But I am really not looking forward to the full moon next week.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 