Make it stop Auntie Em

One of the biggest sucks in biking is getting all gear up, stretched out, watered and pumped only to get on your bike and realize the wind is tossing you around like you're Dorothy no matter which way you turn. You pedal hard when you should be spinning but you're not really getting anywhere and you expect to see the Wicked Witch around every corner. (Oh no, Glenda the Good Witch certainly won't be waiting there.)

What do you do? Turn around, head back to the house and hit the gym instead? Hell no. You keep pedalling, hoping that when you make that left up ahead at the intersection the wind will be waiting to give you a nice push from the back. Well, maybe it will happen at the next intersection. Or the next.

It's like a meteorological abnormality — wind that's constantly in your face no matter which way you turn. This is when biking isn't all that much fun and it happens way too often during spring in Maine.

But if the wind's bad on the Trek Across Maine, what are you gonna do? Sleep in? Sag out? Course not, so you better just suck it up and hit it head on.

I had one of those rides last weekend, when I was fighting the wind for the first 8.5 miles. I was kicking myself for not choosing the treadmill instead, but June 13 will be here before I know it. So I grinded it out (while constantly bitching and complaining), until I finally hit a stretch on Middle Road through Yarmouth and Falmouth where I could crank it up and make some real progress. Even if it only lasted for four miles, that's why you ride: Sunshine, warm weather, tires that roll along smooth as silk and a little sweat under the vest.

C'mon Trekkers, get out there. If you can make it through the wind, t's so worth the ride.