It is Spring proper now. Rain, hail & shine all in the same day with tons of the blowy stuff thrown in for good measure. I spotted heavy rain on the forecast for Tuesday so decided to run some extended errands on Monday after dropping the boys off to school. I rode to work to get my sealant gun to finish off the bathroom DIY job from the weekend. After that, a couple of things from the supermarket and then struggled home with a tailwind. There is always a no rhythm ride during my week-this was one of them time. I blame the wind. After sealing the kitchen and bathroom, I threw sticks in the forest for an enthusiastic dog for an hour. This is the extent of my pre season training.
I then headed back to school into the headwind for my first taste of what the week had in store for me. Yep, headwinds heading SW with a fair share of gusts to really suck the life out of my legs. I think that the winds were a result of a storm in the NW. I am not sure what they called it but I have now titled it Storm Bastard. Why do we have to give these things a name anyway?
After a break on Tuesday, I rode to the Lent workers Mass on Wednesday and arrived a couple of minutes late. Father Peter couldn’t make it so I stayed a while to give the wind a chance to really whip up before ungainly spinning into it to work. The abuse that my legs gave me was ugly. I soothed them with the consolation of a tailwind promise for the trip home.
Except that the wind shifted to the NW so I was buffeted by a cross-tailwind that occasionally gave my complaining thighs some help. The next morning I got up early for some more pre season throwing practice for 30min. I negotiated with my legs to do a shorter route to work from the cricket club after dropping the boys off.
Again the wind was in my face, gusty and deeply offensive. It was slow going along the river, the gusts making the water look like one of those water park wave pools. Work was the working equivalent of a long ride into a strong headwind-an unpleasant if productive slog. Even so, I talked myself into a slightly longer route back to the van to shelter from the crosswind. It was quite a pleasant amble to the extent that if I wasn’t time poor and in need of an early night I would like to think that I could’ve done more.
But nah! I more than got to my 100km weekly target and my poor legs deserved their reward of a Friday rest. On Friday however, I woke to number 2 complaining of fever and a sore throat. So I stayed home while I read all the news from Christchurch getting sadder by the minute. I have never felt more far away from home than I did that day. Even a 3rd day of fielding practice couldn’t lift the spirits. Social media really is toxic. While there are good things about it, there is also lots of hate. I think that I will call it UNsocial media from now on…
Today after 2 days of happy legs, I headed out for a quick pedal turner so that Mrs B2W and I could go out for some more fielding practice. Boy, are those batters gonna regret taking on my arm from the boundary in the summer. The sun was out (if a little cool), Storm Bastard had all but disappeared and I was in shorts. I even had the luxury of a tailwind for a couple of km! And then the hail started. It wasn’t particularly big or long but intense enough to ring the bell on my handlebar and hammer on my helmet. It also punished my legs as it sliced into them with a venom of which they have never seen the like. I have never ridden in hail before and don’t wish to for a while if ever.
The aftermath. About 5 minutes after it stopped. The photo doesn’t do it justice- it felt like riding on a crunchy carpet of hail stones
Ah yes, Spring. The season that keeps on giving. I wonder what surprises it will bring next week?
Biking to work 
Hail sucks, man. I feel your pain.
Yep, sucks. There was some about this afternoon before I headed out on the school run but managed to wait it out