This is October. October is a time for crisp air and changing leaves. It is a time to enjoy the comforting smell of chimney smoke and cinnamon brooms. It is a time for morning fog and frosty grass and savoring the warmth of the morning coffee as the chilly pre-dawn air wafts through a half-open dining room window while bare feet struggle to keep warm on the cold, wooden floor. It is a time for unstructured riding, a brief respite before we begin training for next season in earnest. It is a time when we expect to don arm warmers and knee warmers, long-fingered gloves, and the virtuous wind vest. It is a time to romanticize.
Preparing ourselves for this seasonal shift entails more than simply digging out long forgotten clothing from the bottom of our duffle bags. We make mental adjustments as well. Rather than forsaking a chilly morning, we embrace it. The threat of rain becomes not an annoyance, but the possibility of a character building adventure. So when confronted with summertime temperatures on an early autumn day, one could view it as something of a letdown. “I should be shivering, not sweating,” I thought to myself on yesterday’s ride.
However, it didn’t take long for me to make peace with the situation. Soon autumn will be in full swing and the air will begin to take a decidedly even more frigid turn. And when the mercury hovers just above freezing and I make my way out in the darkness into the strong, gusty winds that seem to blow from every direction at once, I will wish for this day to come again. It should feel like fall, but it’s not so bad.
