Mistral + vélo = :-(

Bicycling in winter isn’t easy. Even if you have all the gear, which I don’t, there’s just no way around how uncomfortable it can be. Take, for example, my ride into Oakland today. I was having a fine go of things – easily evading all the grit that seems to collect on the roadside during the harshest season – when a glacial blast of air literally brought me to a standstill. That’s right. I was stopped going up the Bloomfield Bridge on my bicycle.

Was I afraid? No. There weren’t any cars coming. However, it was pretty damn frustrating since I could barely breathe and still had about half the bridge to traverse. It didn’t help that I was running late for the council meeting, as well.