Winds of Change

It sounds so important. A start to a novel or a great work. Maybe a screen play! No, it's non of those. A simple work this will be.
This time of year the winds come on your face from the North. The North winds come strong and fast. The afternoon is the most energetic. This is a bicycler's point of view. Wind is the friend and trainer. It all depends on the direction you are going. These winds are the winds that bring on the change in the season. Summer to Fall. As though it requires a huge effort of the wind to push the Summer South. Then the void of this push pulls the Northern cool weather in. The cool off the ice at the top of the world. The cool from Canada, British Columbia, Northern Territories,the Yukon Territories. All this effort in the Northern winds of this short moment.
My rides are for the most part North to South. I'm a continental pro going South. Fast, effortless, moving at speeds only the few can go. 25 MPH all the time, well in my dreams. Rollers are so fast there is no time for gravity to do it's work on my body. Show me who I really am, and how old this body really is. That I am a 57 year old X racer doing his best to run ahead of the storm coming my way. Then I turn and head North again. Looking to find the roads home. Bring the feeling of speed and smooth gears back to the garage. Have a new story to lie about during the Winter times of ice and snow. Some images, and feelings to make this aging rider feel as young as I am not. Then the truth comes home 25 miles out. Warm wind, 88 degrees, sometime much higher. No humidity at all. Dry, windy, no cover, your in it now. The wind that shows you who you are. Your 57, slow, almost out of water. Your heading North into the unrelenting wind of the changing season. The dreams of power and speed work for a while. Then the truth comes out for good. You grind your way in the wind, up the hills, at speeds you just don't have the heart to look at. The heart rate monitor now going up and up as though you are in a mountain pass. Your just old and you have 25 mile of this to go. Dam, what was I thinking going out in this stuff. To late for that now. Slow it down and find the right gear. Gears I climb hills in are now the gears on the flat roads. What will happen when the hills come? Keep the heart rate down and just ride smart. Those days on the Continent are over. The pro jersey you wear, you bought! The dream comes crashing down to the reality of the fight to just get home without falling over. The season of Fall will be here soon. This was just the taste of the change. Drink it in old man. It my be your last drink. Savor the effort. Feel the challenge the wind has brought. The Peleton is all around you. We suffer together. Taking our turns, one at a time. The finish line will come soon enough.
These are the winds that bring the North down to the Valley for the next challenges. The efforts to change the season are great. The dreams are there to forget the pain, the age, and the final race. Now is the time of lies and stories to forget what we don't want to tell. Maybe a team will pick me up next season.