What the
weather service likes to call "a sea breeze" is what we cyclists who live by the coast call "a headwind" or a curse. To make matters worse, I live part way up a hill, making every trip out a chance to ride home into the wind, and uphill. Our neighborhood ranges from 100-500 feet above sea level.
Here's what the sea breeze felt (and sounded) like today. Notice that I am carefully obeying the SLOW sign mounted along the sidewalk:
Or shown in a still photo, you can see the palm trees bent over and fronds tossing in the wind. While I am considerably closer to the ground than they are, I am still getting most of the force of that wind. In my face.
Does it seem highly subjective to cry "windy!" without empirical evidence? While the trees are bent and the film seems in slow motion (I WAS in slow-mo) I could be exaggerating, right?
Here are the facts from our local weather station. I took my ride between 2:30-3:30 pm. I took the photos around 3 pm.
My brief venture only spanned a few miles, but took me past plenty of cars and scenery. I managed to capture several concepts in one photo. Ratty old pickup, tastefully upgraded home (rock facing), trendy colors on the garage door, deck railing and gate, marine layer clearly visible in the sky ...
I think I've gotten all I need on this trip, so why not stop now and go home? Huff puff. Home I go.
