Windy Saturday

Yesterday started out as a gusty, yet warm ride to the post office. We meandered along a familiar route through a neighborhood where houses within the non-grid oriented streets serve as windbreaks. Eventually, our course took us to East-West streets on which we faced the brunt of the wind.

Battling the wind head-on.

Riding in full on wind can be challenging. Even going downhill, the wind can negate gravitational advantage and necessitate strong pedaling just to get down. After about a mile and a half of pushing against the wind, our girl opted for the SAG wagon. I had anticipated this, and had installed my hacked rack mount on the Big Dummy.

Posing by the Big Dummy with her Electra aboard.

Enjoying a celebratory lollipop on the ride home.

After successfully reaching the post office, we decided to capitalize on the wind with a kite flying session in the park. The wind was almost too strong for the kite, which zoomed up high then down low, tempting catastrophic encounters with the ground. On frequent occasion, impacts were unavoidable, but the kite seemed to take the crashes in stride.

Daring one-handed maneuver.

She found a cozy place to conduct her flying.

The ladybug kite and flight crew.

After a time, we sought the wind-free shelter of home, but not until we had put a fair amount of flight time on the ladybug kite. It has held up well and looks to have a bright future on many more windy days.