Boston has been having pretty mild pre-winter weather. It's just mid-December and the snow hasn't started falling yet. I'm living it up while I can before we get dumped on in a month or two. This week the temperatures have been in the 40s and 50s, and the forecast for next week will be even warmer, getting into the low 60s. Obviously for biking it's great. I like the cooler temps because I get less sweaty biking to and from work.
It is interesting to see how the number of bikers on the road is directly affected by the temperature and weather. When I've pedaled through cold winds and rain, I can't deny that I feel pretty good about myself when I arrive at work and the bike racks are nearly empty. But regardless of my own pride, I still would rather bike than take the Green Line any day.
As winter progresses the daylight has shifted from broad daylight until 8 at night to glorious but somewhat sad sunsets at 4pm. I've been thinking about getting some more lights to add on. I currently have a headlight on my handlebars, taillight on my helmet, and a cool blue spoke light on my front tire. I'd like to have two headlights, one as a flashing indicator and one to illuminate the road in front of me. And I feel like a second taillight on my backpack or my bike can't hurt. My biking backpack is awesome, but while it has a bottle opener attached to the right strap, it doesn't have any sort of reflective material. I got a roll of reflective silver tape for my previous regular backpack and it surprisingly stayet on really well! I'd probably just stick a stripe or two down the back of my backpack.
I bike about 10 miles per day on work days, and I thought my legs were in pretty good shape-- especially my quads. However I found out this week that other muscles are woefully under-exercised. My office did a strength training session after hours in our big cafe area, and I joined in. I knew it was going to be tough but I had no idea how much it would destroy me hahaha. For an hour the trainers had us doing 3 sets of a circuit that involved lunges, one-armed deadlifts, planks, and other movements that I've probably blocked out my memory by now. Many of them with kettlebells. Since then my entire body (except my quads) has been one big sore muscle, especially my glutes, hamstrings, and my core. I did enjoy the workout even though my butt was kicked. I might change up my workout at the gym which I haven't been too diligent about. I've been doing a beginner dumbbell circuit which has been good but compared to the strength training session could be taken up a notch. The kettlebells were especially fun, so I might look for a beginner kettlebell workout on YouTube or something.
All in all it's been a good biking week. Trying to avoid road rage is a constant effort; some days I'm able to let it go, but other days I spew mental hate at the person who I think has been a doofus. I'm reminded of Jesus telling his disciples to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Christianity is easily recognizable by things like John 3:16 or a plethora of bad examples. But to me the crux (no pun intended) of my faith is choosing to repay hate or annoyance with love instead of what seems like justifiable anger and hatred. Can I pray for the driver who almost turned right into me? On my good days I can, but that's not every day yet.
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