Headwind/Tailwind

Does anything beat a nice wide shoulder to ride on?

When I took this photo at 5:45 this morning, I was riding back from having been on this same road earlier, going in the opposite direction. It's a beautiful causeway leading out to a semi-island of glacial till in Boston Harbor, surrounded by wetlands and the sea.

On the way out though, I had to fight a massive headwind. So I tucked myself low in the drops of my handlebars and spun around in a ridiculously small gear. But then coming back ... ah, relief! What was once an ornery headwind was now a magnificent tailwind! I could put the bike in a whopping big gear and fly away.

Such is the beauty of an out-and-back morning ride.

The only problem though ... the tailwind put me in such a confident mood that when I stopped to take the photo, I forgot to downshift beforehand. Ugh! Starting up again from a giant gear was no fun! It's a nice photo though...