It's been a very cold, long winter. The sunny days are slowly increasing, but the overnight lows this week are still in the 30s.
I have not taken good care of myself over the winter. I've gained weight, probably at least ten to fifteen pounds. Having nowhere to ride TO, it's been hard to motivate myself to just go out and ride around and then come home on the cold days in January; and before that I couldn't see well enough to ride much at all.
My skin is pale, perimenopausal-zitty; the bags below my eyes have grown into steamer trunks.
I have hardly been a nutritional role model, I'll admit it. Too many carbs and not enough vegetables.
And my knees have been hurting from the cold and arthritis and maybe from inactivity and who knows, honestly?
But today, the sun came out. So I went out for a short ride. I had something to drop off at FedEx and the sun was out and I figured I could stop by Upcycles and pick up a few inner tubes and make the whole thing a nice little loop.
So in a fit of optimism, I pulled on a flannel shirt over a t-shirt and pants, pulled down the singlespeed and headed out. 
It never warmed up all that much. In fact, the warmest part of the day was probably at the start of my ride, and as I kept riding it kept getting colder. So I pedaled harder, at least until my right knee howled again. I warmed up a little this way, and it felt good enough that I extended my loop by adding some back-and-forths on the East-West streets. But it was still cold, and my knees hurt. So I went home.
But on the way, I stopped to notice beauty in the big, swirly-clouded skies and the deep purple flowers that dressed up a fire hydrant, and to admire a couple of ducks -- geese? -- in a neighbor's yard. And even though I'm slow, and heavier than I've ever been, and so tired I can't sleep normally anymore, and even though the world is still pretty damn sideways, I'm glad I went for that little ride.
If it's not raining, I just might do it again tomorrow.
Happy riding.
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